


The End’s Intent

by shewritesall



Series: Dramione Full Stories [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Head Boy Draco Malfoy, Head Girl Hermione Granger, Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy Friendship, Seventh year at Hogwarts, Werewolf, dramione - Freeform, heads au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 43,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27914863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: Hermione Granger did not know just what she was getting into when she made friends with a pointy faced, blond boy during her first year. Draco Malfoy did not know how utterly in love he'd become with the bushy haired muggle born girl. Both of them thought they knew what they could expect when they returned to Hogwarts for their final year, but after a freak encounter with some werewolves and an unfortunate incident with wannabe Death Eaters, things turn out much, much different than either of them could have ever imagined.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger
Series: Dramione Full Stories [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711891
Comments: 18
Kudos: 84





	1. Prologue

Draco liked the study sessions they had every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Getting paired with Granger for a potions project had at first seemed boring, but now he rather looked forward to the times he worked with her. Merlin, his father would have a fit to know he'd somehow befriended a muggle-born girl during the second semester of his first year, but perhaps the fact that she was the smartest in their class would make up for it.

"Hey, Granger," Draco said, poking her with his wand from across the table. She looked up from where she was hunched over her work and gave him a dirty look. He grinned and asked, "What do you reckon would happen if I replaced the goat mucus with sheep mucus?"

"I think you'd ruin the potion," she replied matter of factly. Draco's grin widened but she had already returned to her work.

"Do you think, " he asked, wiggling in his seat when she let out an irritated huff, " A snail without its shell would be an adequate replacement for a slug?"

"I think I'm going to ignore you and finish my work, Malfoy," she said, not looking up for where she was scribbling down notes from a nearby book.

This just encouraged Draco who leaned onto the table and tucked his legs up under him on the library chair. The table wobbled but Granger didn't look up to scold him. Her frown deepened and she grabbed her quill tighter, but she didn't say anything.

"I think replacing a bezoar with any old kidney stone would work," he whispered conspiratorily. Her writing paused for just a second before continuing, but Draco knew he had her attention. "I've done it in other potions and it only changes it a little. Like instead of turning someone blue, the potion will make them green! Though, don't mention it to Pansy as she still doesn't drink lemonade and will hex you if you do, but it was a funny joke. If we could replace bezoars, though, just imagine how much easier certain potions could be!"

"I'm imagining how much easier homework would be without your chattering about," Granger replied, looking up with a scowl. Draco grinned at her and stretched over the table to pluck her quill from her hand. She tried to snatch it back, but Draco sat far back in his seat and held it out of her reach.

"Just think about it for a minute, Granger," he insisted. Granger hoisted herself onto the table and strained for her quill as he said, "If we could prove its efficiency, then we could—Hey!" Granger had lunged for her quill and Draco threw himself further back to avoid her. Both of their eyes widened as Draco's chair tipped over and he landed on the library floor with a loud thud.

Draco groaned and reached back to rub his head. When he opened his eyes, Granger was looking down at him from on top of the table. Before he could grab her quill from where it had rolled out of his hand, Granger jumped off the table and snatched it back. She hesitated before returning to her seat though and continued to just stare down at him.

"Do you think the kidney stone could replace a bezoar in complicated potions like the Wolfsbane or Amortentia?" she asked. Draco frowned and nodded, still on the ground.

Granger chewed her bottom lip for a moment then nodded to herself. She reached out her hand to help him up and after considering it for just a second, Draco accepted and let her pull him to his feet.

"Let's try it," she conceded. Draco's face lit up but she held up a hand to stop him. "But if you turn me into a dog or make me spin in circles, I'll hex you."

"Deal."

* * *

When Draco was forced to spend Christmas at Hogwarts during his third year, he grumbled about it for an hour. Blaise finally sent him out of their dorm and it was on his way outside that he found Granger. She was sitting on a snowy bench wearing a thin cloak and reading furiously. With a smirk, he slowly crept up behind her before lunging forward and yelling at her.

The next thing Draco knew was that he was sitting in the snow and his face hurt. When he blinked again, Hermione was kneeling beside him frantically apologising for punching him in the face.

"You snuck up on me and I panicked!" she explained. Draco wriggled his nose and sat up, looking at Hermione.

"Good to know you can defend yourself even without a wand," he said. She rolled her eyes and pulled him to his feet, apologising again when she saw he was covered in snow. "I'm at least dressed for the weather. Aren't you freezing?"

Hermione looked down at herself as if she had only just then noticed what she was wearing. She shrugged.

"It's got a heating charm," she told him. Draco smiled at that and nodded to the book she was holding. "Oh, it's a gift from my parents. They're traveling to America for the holidays, so I'm staying here. I convinced them to send my gift early."

"You're staying too?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded and pulled her cloak around her tighter. "Does that thing really have a heating charm?"

"Kind of," Hermione said hesitantly. "It's old and doesn't hold the spell very well; I got it from another wizard. It's fine when I don't think about it though."

"We can go inside," Draco suggested. Hermione shrugged, but Draco pulled her inside nonetheless.

When Christmas did come and Draco walked into the Great Hall, he smiled at the sight of Hermione sitting in his usual seat at the Slytherin table, wearing a new cloak. She scowled up at him and stood up, saying goodbye to the first year she had been talking to.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione," Draco said cheerfully, snatching a muffin from the table before Hermione had pulled him out of the Great Hall.

"You bought me a new cloak," she accused. Draco raised his eyebrow at her.

"I wasn't aware giving you a present was a crime," he replied, "You needed a new cloak, so I got you one. Happy Christmas!" he said with a shrug.

Hermione rolled her eyes and summoned a box tied neatly with a ribbon. Draco narrowed his eyes at her as she passed it to him with a smug look. Warily, he opened the box and pulled away the tissue paper to reveal what looked like a large bracelet with a circle in the center. He gave her a weird look, but she just snatched the thing from him and grabbed his wrist.

"It's a muggle contraption," she explained. She twisted his wrist so his palm was facing up and pushed back his sweater sleeves. "It's a clock, but on your arm. Muggles call them watches."

"Watches?" Draco asked, lifting his arm after she'd fastened the thing to his wrist. He looked at it closely, watching the small clock arm tick in its muggle prison. "What does it watch?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head.

"It watches the time I suppose," she said. The gift box vanished and Draco smiled as he admired his new watch.

"Thanks, Granger," Draco said, hugging her quickly before returning to admiring his watch. Her face turned red but Draco didn't notice, instead asking her how muggles had managed to come up with such an idea as they left the castle to walk around the grounds.


	2. Chapter 2

Seventh year. Merlin, it seemed like time had just rushed past, but Hermione supposed that was inevitable when there was a War brewing. It was hard to believe she was returning to Hogwarts during the beginning of a war, but Harry and Ron had both agreed with her when she'd said the younger students would need someone to rely on. Dumbledore had entrusted Harry with the horcrux hunt so he couldn't be the one to do it and Ron didn't function very well alone, so that had left Hermione to be the one who returned. When she'd gotten a letter from Headmaster Snape that she'd been assigned head girl, it had made it that much more important she be the one who returned. Who knew who the head boy was and leaving the students to the mercy of Death Eaters for teachers and abitious Slytherin students didn't sound like a good idea.

Arriving at Platform 9 3/4 with just Ginny felt strange. Harry and Ron had already left on their hunt and the other Weasleys didn't want to be so exposed when they were all Order members. Having the twins continue their joke shop in Diagon Alley even seemed a bit dangerous, but it was also a good way to keep an eye out on those who wandered through the shops.

"You're sure you don't want me to meet the head boy with you?" Ginny asked as they hauled their trunks onto the train. "What if it's someone wretched like, oh, I don't know, Avery?" Ginny suddenly gasped and grabbed Hermione's arm, making her drop her trunk and reach for her wand. "What if it's Pucey? Or even Montague?"

"I won't be attacked on the train, Ginny," Hermion said, trying to slow her racing heart when she realised they were not about to be attacked. "And please don't scare me like that."

Ginny sheepishly apologised before making Hermione promise to find her before the prefect meeting and immediately after meeting the head boy. Hermione swore she would and the two parted ways for the moment. It was her duty as head girl to meet with the head boy for the first thirty minutes or so of the train ride after all. They were supposed to organise prefect patrol and devise a plan for the school year to present to the prefects later on. During the last hour of the train ride, the prefects would all meet together to go over the routes and schedule before disbanding to patrol the train cars.

Usually, Hermione would be excited about such a meeting, but the worry about who she'd be meeting was eating away at her. There was no doubt in her mind Snape had given the head boy position to the child of a Death Eater to keep up appearances with Voldemort and Hermione was worried. She was supposed to work with this boy the entire year and she didn't want to worry about being hexed or injured every time they met.

Stepping into the prefect's train car, Hermione held her breath as she looked around. She wasn't sure if it was a relief or not that the car was empty. She had a few more minutes to herself, but she also had extra time to worry about who the head boy could be.

She'd just sat down when the car door opened and a familiar blond head ducked inside. It took her a second to realise Draco wasn't just stopping by to say hi and when she noticed the head boy badge gleaming on his robes, she sighed in relief.

"It's you," she breathed happily. Draco smiled and closed the curtains of the train car as he made his way over to her. As soon as he was within an arm's reach, she jumped to her feet and hugged him tightly.

"I told Snape he couldn't appoint anyone else if he was making you head girl," Draco told her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. The action surprised her, but she didn't mention it. He pulled away and looked her over subtly. "He didn't try to argue with me."

"I was so worried it would be someone like Pucey or Montague," she replied. Draco just stared at her and Hermione frowned. She pressed her hand to his head and he blinked, pulling back sharply before realising it was just her. "Are you alright? You look..." She wasn't quite sure what he looked like, but sick or worried seemed to be the best description.

"I'm fine," he assured her. He pulled away from her fully and motioned to the seat she'd just been sitting in. She sat back down and he sat across from her. "I imagine you have routes and schedules already planned out?"

"Oh, yes!" she said. She summoned her folder and laid out the parchment plans on the table between them. Draco looked them over, nodding occasionally before handing them back to her.

"You partnered them based on dueling skill," he commented. Hermione chewed on her lip and nodded. "Why?"

"With the Carrows teaching this year, I'm worried some students might have real fights in the halls," she said quietly. Draco nodded and glanced back at the parchment sheets.

"You chose good pairs," he assured her, "They should be able to handle it."

Hermione nodded, but didn't say her biggest concern were the Slytherin prefects. She'd had to pair them together as she knew sending them for nightly rounds with anyone else would likely result in chaos, but she was worried they wouldn't do anything to protect the younger students who weren't in Slytherin.

"Oh!" she said, almost jumping out of her seat. Draco's hand shot to his wand and she immediately felt bad for startling him. "Sorry, it's nothing bad," she promised, standing up as she spoke. "I just have to go tell Ginny not to worry. We didn't know you were head boy so she's probably worrying right now. I'll be back though; promise."

Before Draco could call for her to stop, she was rushing from the train car and hurrying to find Ginny. She had left her bag and notes behind as she was planning on returning to Draco, but first she had to tell Ginny she'd be alright.


	3. Chapter 3

That night, Draco spent longer than usual unpacking his trunk. He and Hermione had been assigned their own dormitory and he knew she'd be sitting downstairs either studying or overthinking, but he couldn't bring himself to leave his room. Eventually, he knew he had to quit stalling and found himself walking downstairs to their common room.

Just like he'd thought, she was sitting on a sofa staring into the fire place. There were no flames, but it seemed to captivate her just the same. He took a moment to admire her from the top of the stairs and smiled at how relaxed she was compared to how she'd been during dinner that evening.

"Tired?" he asked. She jumped at his voice and twisted around to face him. She nodded and when he sat beside her on the sofa, she turned and put her legs on his lap.

"I don't think tired is really the word for it anymore," she answered. Draco felt his heart clench at the words but he didn't say anything. Instead, he watched her face as she closed her eyes and laid her head back on the sofa pillow. "How was your summer?"

"Dreadful," Draco murmured. His hand found her ankle and her eyes opened. She didn't lift her head from the cushion, but she turned so she could look at him easier. "The Dark Lord took up residence at the Manor," he told her softly. His hand left her ankle to subconsciously run over his left arm and Hermione's eyes tracked the motion.

"Draco..." she trailed off and Draco looked up to meet her eyes. Without breaking eye contact, she reached forward and took his left arm in her hand. Draco flinched at her touch and attempted to pull away, but her grip on his arm only tightened. In one smooth motion, she pushed back the sleeve of his robes and inhaled sharply.

The mark on his forearm seemed even more prominent with Hermione staring at it and Draco wished more than ever he could cover it up. Before Draco could try pulling his arm out of her grasp again, Hermione's fingers were gently tracing over the mark and he held his breath.

"Did you want it?" she whispered, still staring down at the skull and snake. Draco shook his head fiercely.

"No," he said bitterly. He pulled his arm away from her and covered the mark back up with his sleeves. "No," he explained, "My father failed a mission and the Dark Lord became suspicious of our family. He threatened to hurt my mother. I had to do something to restore his trust in us before he did."

Hermione's eyes were glistening, but she kept from crying as she looked at him. Draco ran a hand through his hair and took a shaky breath, chuckling to himself as he remembered the night he'd announced his intentions to take the dark mark. His mother had cried and he'd spent the night reassuring her it would be okay. How could he have known he'd be expected to kill the day he'd received the mark? How was he supposed to know absolutely nothing would be okay after that?

"When did you take it?" Hermione asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"A week or two after I returned to the Manor," he answered. Hermione nodded and the room fell silent.

"I'm proud of you," Hermione whispered. Draco looked at her, confused and ready to argue that she shouldn't be, but she shook her head before he could form a coherent sentence. "You saved your mother even though you knew the consequences. That took strength, Draco, and I'm proud of you."

How he'd gotten lucky enough to have Hermione as a friend, Draco didn't know. Even Blaise had at first argued with him about it and not fully understood his reasons for accepting the mark. It hadn't been until after Draco's first mission where he'd seen a muggle family tortured and killed that Blaise stopped being upset with him.

"Blaise is the only other person I've told and he didn't react half as well as you," he told her with a small smile. Hermione gave him a weak smile in return and shifted on the couch so she was sitting right beside him.

"Blaise can also be a little thick headed sometimes," Hermione reminded him. He nodded in agreement.

Hermione rested her head on his shoulder and covered his arm with her hand. He tensed, but didn't pull away as she gently traced meaningless patterns over his mark through his shirt sleeve.

"Most people would be running right now," Draco said, staring down at where she was touching his arm. "They wouldn't be drawing over the mark so calmly."

Hermione hummed but didn't lift her head.

"The same people chose to ignore the signs and let Voldemort get this far along," Hermione replied. She tilted her head so she could smile at him before pulling away. "Besides, you're not all that terrifying now that I've seen you cry after reading Shakespeare."

Draco scowled at her for the reminder and she laughed, effectively chasing away the somber mood. He could clearly remember reading through her entire collection of Shakespeare's tragedies during fifth year and having her stumble upon him crying by the Black Lake. It had been both terribly embarrassing and amusing as she'd teared up as well while they talked about some of the plays.

"If I recall correctly, you cried after killing a grindylow for potions," Draco reminded her. Hermione glared at him.

"They are living creatures!" she exclaimed, turning so she was facing him. "They shouldn't have to die just for a potion. Besides, wizards are advanced enough now they should have different potions that don't require you to kill innocent creatures. Just because something isn't a wizard doesn't mean its life doesn't matter."

Draco laughed as she argued her point even further.

"Hermione, I know," he said, cutting her off when her face started to get a little red. "I'm not arguing with you."

She huffed.

"You sound like it sometimes," she replied. Draco laughed again and Hermione's glare hardened. "Don't laugh at me."

"I'm sorry," Draco said, calming himself down and smiling at her. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I would never intentionally laugh at you or your beliefs."

She stared at him for a long second before nodding to herself. She untangled herself from the couch and stood up, making Draco frown.

"Where are you going?" he asked, grabbing her hand before she could leave. "I'm sorry for laughing at you, Hermione. Really."

"I'm not leaving because you laughed at me, Draco," she said with a smile. She squeezed his hand and glanced towards her bedroom upstairs. "We have an early morning tomorrow and I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. I'm not upset with you."

"Alright," Draco replied, letting go of her hand. "Sleep well."

Hermione just smiled before moving around the sofa and disappearing upstairs. Draco stayed in the common room for only a few more minutes before going up to his own room as well. After getting changed for bed and taking a Dreamless Sleep potion, he slipped into his bed and hoped that the first day of classes would go alright.


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione's first week of classes went horribly. Not only had many of the students realised they wouldn't be disciplined by teachers for bullying muggle-borns, half-bloods, and supposed "blood traitors", but the Carrows seemed to already be out for blood. She spent much of her first day ducking from hexes of throwing a well-aimed _protego_ at unsuspecting younger students so they wouldn't get a nasty surprise. By the time she was sitting down for dinner on Friday night, Hermione was dreading the rest of the school year.

"Hey, 'Mione," Ginny grumbled as she slumped onto the bench beside her. Luna sat on Ginny's other side, much to Hermione's surprise, and Neville plopped down in front of her.

"Don't you all look happy," Hermione said, serving herself some food then staring down at it. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she knew she needed the food.

"The Carrows are horrid and I have enough homework for the next month," Ginny told her. Neville nodded along with her and Luna just looked at them all silently.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Hermione asked. It wasn't out of character for Luna to stare at them silently, but she did want to make sure no one had given her a hard time.

"Oh, yes," Luna replied, reaching for a bread roll. "I've just thought I'd rather not complain about class. It draws Wrigglyspurts and they're just wretched to get out of your ears."

Hermione nodded at her then glanced back to Neville who was trying to say something with a mouth full of food. Once he'd finally chewed and swallowed, he started again.

"Are you here to start the DA again, Hermione?" he said, looking around suspiciously at anyone who could be listening. "I learned loads with you and Harry and since the Carrows aren't actually going to teach us anything, it would be a great idea."

"I don't think so, Neville," Hermione sighed. As much as she had enjoyed the DA and teaching younger students how to defend themselves, she wasn't sure running such a club was a good idea with Death Eaters running through the castle. "The Carrows are much worse than Umbridge. If we got caught, I'd hate to think what would happen."

"What about charms and spells again?" Ginny suggested. Hermione raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes before clarifying, "You charmed the parchment last time. You could do it again, but with more targeted spells to prevent the Carrows or other Death Eaters from even seeing it."

Hermione considered it. The DA would certainly be a good idea. Defense Against the Dark Arts had been changed to simply Dark Arts and Alecto Carrow didn't seem too intent on teaching them anything that could be even sort of considered defense. She dreaded to think what the younger students were learning.

"I'll think about it," Hermione promised. Neville just smiled and they quickly finished their dinner.

As Hermione hurried back to the head's dormitory, she ran through various spells and charms she could use on the flyer. They'd have to be failproof as she refused to run the DA with any chance they could be discovered, but she couldn't very well ask the teachers for such peculiar spells. With a little luck, Professor McGonagall would be willing and able to discreetly help her. She had to know at least something about the DA and what had gone on in fifth year, but Hermione would still refrain from saying anything directly. Even though she trusted the older witch, she didn't want any possible rumours to get out and cause problems.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't see someone coming around the corner and ran right into them. Panic jolted through her body as she stumbled and hit the ground before she could fully process what had happened. Her books fell to the ground beside her but as she reached out to gather them back up, a dragonhide shoe struck out and kicked her hand away. She pulled her hand back quickly, cradling it close, and looked up to see who she'd run into.

Adrian Pucey loomed over her with Graham Montague beside him. Her eyes widened and she scrambled for her wand. Montague casually kicked it away from her and she scowled at him.

"Don't look at me," he hissed, whipping his wand out and aiming it at her face. Her scowl wavered slightly and when she tried to reach for her wand again, Pucey kicked her hand harder than before.

Her wrist burned as the toe of his dragonhide shoe connected with her wrist for the second time, but she didn't cry out of in pain.

"You don't deserve that wand, Mudblood," Pucey snarled at her. Pulling her hurting wrist into her lap protectively, Hermione looked down the empty corridor and hoped just about anyone would come into view.

"Don't look so hopeful," Montague taunted, crouching down in front of her, his wand still aiming towards her. "We've been here for a while and there's no one around to come help you."

Hermione wanted to tell him to fuck off and leave her alone, but seeing as she was completely alone with both Montague and Pucey, it didn't seem like the best time. Instead, she remained on the ground, books scattered around her and her wrist aching painfully.

"Can I please just go to my dorm?" she asked as politely as she could manage. The last thing she needed was them to think she was being cheeky and then curse her right there in the middle of the corridor.

"Hmm, I think not," Montague said, poking her cheek with the tip of his wand. "You belong outside with the rats, filth, not bundled up somewhere cozy like a dorm."

"And you belong in the dungeons with the rest of your kind," Hermione snapped. Montague glared at her and stood up abruptly, leveling his wand with her forehead.

"Don't get smart with me, Mudblood," he snarled, his lip curled back. Spit hit her face as he spoke and she grimaced slightly. As his mouth twisted into a cruel grin and he spit right in her face, she flinched again and wished she hadn't the first time.

As she reached up to wipe Montague's spit off her cheek, he grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled her up towards him slightly.

"I should kill you where you sit, Mudblood," he sneered. Hermione tried to pull her hand free, but he only grabbed tighter and she knew it would leave bruises. "I'd get rewarded for it to. I could _crucio_ you and get nothing but praise."

She could see in his eyes he was seriously debating it. Beginning to panic more, she tugged harder to escape his hold and nearly toppled over when her arm slid out of his grip. Montague snarled and lunged towards her, but a voice down the hall stopped him in his tracks.

"What the fuck are you doing, Graham?"

Hermione turned to see who had appeared in the corridor and breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes locked on Blaise's. Montague looked less thrilled to see him walking towards them, but didn't step away from Hermione.

"Get lost, Zabini," Montague demanded. Blaise just raised an eyebrow at him and stopped beside Hermione who was still on the floor.

"I'm sure you have better things than make empty threats to our local Gryffindor princess," Blaise said. Montague sneered at him but as Blaise twirled his wand idly and glared at him in return, Montague stepped back. "Good boy. Now get lost before Draco comes out and curses you both."

Hermione didn't miss the flicker of irritation at the mention of Draco, but she was grateful that it seemed to send both Pucey and Montague away. As they turned their backs on her and disappeared around the corner, Hermione reached for her books with her uninjured hand and struggled to her feet.

"Thanks, Blaise," she murmured, taking her wand from him with her only free hand and grimacing at the pain that shot through it. Blaise noticed and immediately levitated her books so he could look over her hand.

"What happened?" he asked. Hermione recognised the basic diagnostic spell he cast on her wrist and watched as the sign of a fracture appeared before them.

"Pucey kicked me," she answered. She knew the spell to fix her wrist and performed it quickly, grimacing at the feeling of her bone fusing back together before settling down.

"Are you alright?" Blaise asked. She nodded and took her books out of the air.

"I'll be fine," she promised. He nodded, though he looked skeptical. She thanked him again before hurrying down the corridor to the head's dormitory.

Even though Montague and Pucey had distracted her for a moment, she still had a lot of work to get done if she wanted to figure out the flyer for the DA and complete all her homework on time. Thankfully, luck seemed to be on her side as Draco sat down with her to complete his homework that night as well and the two stayed up until early in the morning working on all the extra assignments Hermione had been given. When she did finally manage to fall asleep, however, her dreams were plagued with nightmares about the DA being discovered and the Carrows cursing her for turning in her homework too late.


	5. Chapter 5

Draco only had four classes of his nine classes with Hermione. Of all the years to not be able to keep an eye on her, this one had to be the worst. He was lucky enough to have potions with her, but Dark Arts—which had replaced their regular Defense class—was one that he badly wished was spent with her. Alecto Carrow was ruthless and while Draco knew Hogwarts must have some regulations against student abuse, he hadn't seen any evidence of it so far. Watching her teach a class mostly full of Slytherins was hard enough; he hated to think how she treated the other seventh year class that was filled mostly with Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Clearly Snape was allowing the Carrows to have free reign and as he watched Amycus verbally assault Hermione during potions, Draco considered just how good his odds of killing Amycus and getting away with it were.

When Amycus finally ended his seemingly unending flow of insults, he abruptly turned and began assigning homework as if Hermione wasn't teary eyed beside Draco. In an attempt to comfort her silently, Draco slipped his hand into hers under their table and squeezed it tightly. She gripped his hand back even tighter and used her free hand to discreetly wipe her face.

"—while the two Mudbloods have 35 centimeters," Amycus said, underlining the essay topic twice on the chalkboard. Draco scowled down at his cauldron. "I expect you'll also have perfectly completed potions to show tomorrow."

Beside him, Hermione deflated slightly. They had a prefect meeting that night and Draco happened to know she'd already been assigned twice as much homework as him.

"I'll brew it for you," he promised as they walked out of the classroom. Hermione gave him a look and opened her mouth to argue with him, but Draco wasn't having it. "You planned the entire prefect meeting and have twice as much homework already. Let me brew it and give you some."

"Oh, alright," Hermione agreed, stumbling slightly as Montague shoved past her roughly. Draco held out a hand to steady her, but she didn't take it. "But this is a one time thing, okay?"

Draco just smiled before they parted ways and Hermione disappeared in a swarm of students. He walked out to the green houses with Blaise, admiring the morning fog that was finally clearing up and reviewing the steps for brewing the potion they'd been assigned. If he remembered correctly, it took six hours to brew then needed to cool down in the cauldron slowly which typically took another four hours. Once it was perfectly room temperature, he could safely pour it into potion glasses without it combusting. He'd need to start it during lunch to have it done in time.

"Montague's been a right arse, have you noticed?" Blaise asked as they stepped down the rocky path. "It's almost as if he's trying to take your spot as first place douchebag."

Draco scowled at Blaise who just smirked. Draco stuck his foot out and Blaise stumbled, his smirk falling with him as he tried to keep himself from landing on top of a passing fourth year. When he finally righted himself, he glared at Draco.

"Nevermind," he said haughtily. "No one could replace you."

"Montague's all talk. He's not a threat," Draco replied, walking into the greenhouse. Montague looked up at the sound of his name and sneered when he spotted them. Draco just gave him a hard look and after a few seconds, Montague looked away.

Herbology went by slowly and when Draco was finally trudging back up the hill for Charms, he was tempted to skip class and start brewing the potion. He successfully bribed Blaise into answering when his name was called during check and managed to slip through the students unnoticed. He already had the ingredients as he'd snagged them from Amycus's supply closet after class, so all he needed was to summon his cauldron and begin brewing it.

As he crushed a dung beetle and sliced an earthworm in diagonal pieces, he found himself thinking about the rest of the school year. England was already unstable and the Dark Lord had obvious control of the Ministry. In all honesty, Draco didn't think they would reach the end of the school year without the War breaking out. Of course, if that happened, he'd likely be summoned by the Dark Lord to fight.

The thought hit him like the Hogwarts Express. If he was called to fight by the Dark Lord's side, he'd likely fight against his classmates. He'd stand against his professors and have to watch Hermione fight for Potter. Merlin, could he do that? Here he was, brewing a potion so she'd pass potions tomorrow. Was it possible that next week he could be fighting her?

"Draco?"

He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Hermione's voice. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway, one hand wrapped around her forearm as she stared at him.

"I thought I'd get started early," he explained, gesturing to the cauldron that was beginning to boil. "I've finished the recipe. All it needs now is to brew for six hours. I'll watch it though."

Hermione nodded, kicking the door shut behind her as she walked into the dormitory. Draco watched as she started up the stairs, one hand still covering her arm, and frowned.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked. Hermione paused. She looked down at her arm as if she'd only just noticed she was holding it but didn't let go.

"Nothing," she answered unconvincingly. "It's just a stinging hex. I can fix it myself."

She hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the bathroom before Draco could say anything. When she came back down the stairs, her arm was covered in cream and the angry welt on her arm was slowly beginning to disappear.

"Who hit you with a stinging hex?" Draco asked, stopping her before she could leave. He glanced down at her arm to see a pattern of three welts and frowned.

"Some Slytherin fourth years have become extremely devoted to Voldemort's cause," she answered. She pulled her robe sleeve over the welts and smiled up at him. "They have rather good aim, though, so I suppose they can defend themselves enough."

Draco just nodded and let her go. Beside him, the potion gurgled and Draco glanced at it.

"Oh!" Hermione said, poking her head back into the dorm. "Blaise said to tell you he won't cover you in Transfiguration and if you don't show, I'll make sure McGonagall knows you're missing."

"Did you add the last part?" Draco teased. Hermione just grinned and shut the door, leaving Draco to scramble for his book bag and rush after her. He wasn't particularly excited about facing McGonagall after skipping her lesson.


	6. Chapter 6

It only took a week, but by Friday evening, Hermione felt like she had perfected the spelled DA flyer. She'd been correct to assume McGonagall would discreetly help and after visiting her just once in her office after classes, she'd been able to figure out the best way for creating a concealment spell. She'd left a couple of flyers in McGonagall's office and asked if she'd appreciated the art she had left for her. When McGonagall had no idea what Hermione was talking about and insisted nothing had been left in her office, Hermione knew she'd been successful. Just to be safe, she added a repellant charm that would send anyone with the Dark Mark in the other direction. It was a heavily guarded parchment, but Hermione wasn't going to risk anything.

Saturday morning, Hermione left the heads' dormitory well before sunrise and posted the flyer in the court yard between the castle and the green houses. Even though she'd done it many times already, she attempted to trace all the spells on the parchment. Just as she'd charmed the parchment to, it revealed no magic or spells and she grinned. She left a quill hovering beside it then hurried back to the dorm before anyone else woke up.

Hermione couldn't fall back asleep once she'd returned to her room, so she pulled out a book McGonagall had loaned her and got comfortable on the couch in the common room. When the sun finally came up and she knew breakfast was starting, she went back up to her room to put away her book and change.

Ginny and Luna were sitting at the Ravenclaw table when she arrived in the Great Hall. Deciding to join them, Hermione made her way to the Ravenclaw table and sat with her back to the mostly empty Slytherin table.

"Good morning, Hermione," Luna greeted happily. Ginny smiled at her and took a large bite of her cinnamon bun.

"Hello," Hermione replied. She filled her plate with fruit and a cinnamon bun then grabbed a glass of orange juice. "I've figured out a way to charm the DA flyer."

Ginny looked up so quickly it almost looked like she'd given herself whiplash. Luna just smiled beside Ginny and nodded.

"I knew you could," she said dreamily. "Where is it? I didn't see it on my way here."

"It's in the courtyard," Hermione answered. That way, students would see it passing by and teachers wouldn't notice any abnormal clustering in the halls. "I won't bore you with all the spells, but it's secure."

Ginny struggled to swallow her bite of food so she could ask, "When will you hold the first meeting?"

"You have to sign your name to see it, but next weekend on top of the astronomy tower," Hermione said. It would just be a time to tell new students what the DA was for and how they would communicate. Hermione had already started charming more coins like they had previously used to accommodate anyone who had lost theirs or were new. "I don't think Rosmerta's can fit everyone and I don't want to start a rucus, so I thought the astronomy tower would be a good location."

"And if anyone asks, you can say it's just a study group," Ginny said. Hermione nodded. She'd definitely thought of that when deciding on the location. With any luck, none of the professors would find them. Anyone who tried to tell a professor would find themselves suddenly forgetting everything about the DA as well as incapable of speaking about it.

"I'm planning on putting wards around the tower beforehand, but the parchment has enough charms that it should be okay," Hermione replied. Before they could continue talking about it, a loud group of Slytherins sat at the table behind her and they were forced to change topics.

Hermione spent the day with Ginny and Luna in the Gryffindor common room. A few of the younger students came up throughout the day to ask about the DA and Hermione directed them to check the court yard if they were interested in returning. By the time she left the Gryffindor tower, many Gryffindors had excitedly left the tower and returned to smile at her. Neville seemed to be one of the most excited, but he managed to keep himself from talking about it too loud which Hermione was grateful for.

"I have patrol tonight," Hermione said when Ginny asked why she was leaving. She and Draco were scheduled to patrol on every other Saturday night and every Tuesday night. As they'd had last weekend off, it was their turn to patrol the halls until midnight.

A chorus of bye's echoed through the common room as she slipped through the portrait and hurried back to the heads' dormitory to meet Draco. He was pulling on a cloak as she walked in and had hers hanging off the back of the sofa.

"I thought I'd have to meet you in the halls," he said, handing over her cloak. Hermione fastened it under her chin and smiled.

"Time got away from me, I'm afraid," she replied. She followed him out of their shared dormitory and began their patrol route.

As they walked, they talked quietly with each other about the classes they didn't share and the recent reports in the Daily Prophet. Death Eaters had attacked a family in Northumberland and hadn't left any of them alive. While Hermione knew Draco hadn't been involved the night of the attack, she couldn't help but worry he'd known about it beforehand. When she hesitantly asked, Draco shook his head.

"I'm not regularly updated on attacks until after they happen," he told her. As it was, it had been a few new Death Eaters that had been tasked with the murders to prove their allegiance. Draco fell silent after telling her so.

They silently walked out of the castle and into the court yard, lighting their wands to see better in the darkness. Hermione's eyes drifted over to where the DA flyer was hanging just as Draco paused and looked around in confusion.

"I think I left my cloak in the dorm," he said uncertainly. Hermione frowned and gestured to the cloak he was wearing. He frowned down at it. "Oh," he said, starting back up again. They got closer to the flyer and Draco paused again. "Are you sure we need to check outside the court yard? I swear we already did."

"No," Hermione said, sighing under her breath. "We haven't." Glancing at the flyer across the walkway, she said, "You go ahead though and I'll catch up in a bit."

Draco gave her a strange look but hurried out of the court yard. As soon as he'd left her side, Hermione darted over to the poster and stared at it. She'd forgotten Draco had the dark mark when she'd cast the repellent and confundus spells. They'd been adjusted to target only certified Death Eaters and seeing as Draco had the dark mark, clearly they were working.

She didn't want to move the flyer further back and risk people not seeing it, but she couldn't let Draco get confused everytime he walked by it. With the unbreakable sticking charm, she couldn't easily remove it. As she'd been the one to cast it, she could perform the counter spells, but that would take more time than she had at the moment. She groaned before removing the spell that targeted dark marks and hurried off after Draco. Hopefully the rest of the protection spells would be enough to protect the students signing up.


	7. Chapter 7

Draco felt like an idiot. Sunday morning after patrolling with Hermione, he'd gone to find Blaise in an attempt to explain what had happened in the court yard. He'd felt ridiculous trying to figure out why he felt so confused even after Hermione told him he had all that he needed. Part of him wondered if someone had cast a confusion charm on him to sneak past, but even that didn't seem right. Blaise—ever the good friend—had just laughed and called him an idiot before reminding him they had homework to complete.

When Draco returned to the heads' dorm late that night, Hermione was curled up in the common room with a book. He paused at the bottom of the stairs before deciding to join her on the sofa. As he sat down beside her, she looked up from her book and smiled.

"Good day?" she asked. Draco shrugged and nodded and Hermione smiled. "Good."

They sat in silence for a while as Hermione continued her book and Draco stared into the fireplace. He'd gotten a letter at lunch that day from his father and as much as he wanted to talk to somebody about it, he wasn't sure if Hermione was the right person to discuss it with. Granted, she was really the only person he trusted and the only one he actually wanted to tell, but he wasn't sure how to even bring it up.

"Something's on your mind," Hermione said, setting aside her book and twisting so she was facing Draco. As she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them to look at him, Draco smiled. Apparently he wouldn't have to worry about bringing it up.

"I got a letter from my father today," he said softly. He saw her tense even though she tried to hide the reaction. "On Wednesday, I'm to visit Hogsmeade with Snape. If anyone asks where I am, I'm sick and the headmaster himself has excused my classes."

Hermione stared at him, but Draco couldn't clarify any more than that. That's all his father had bothered to write in the letter, but Draco knew what was meant by it.

"Voldemort?" Hermione asked after a minute. Draco nodded solemnly and she looked at the fire to her right. "You shouldn't have to go."

"Hermione," Draco sighed. With the dark mark now on his left arm, he really didn't have a choice. To not go when he was called could mean death or worse. "If I disobey the Dark Lord's wishes, it'll only make things worse."

"But that shouldn't be the case," she said, glaring at the fire and avoiding Draco's face. "He shouldn't force you to do things like that."

Draco wasn't going to argue with her. It would get them nowhere and as it was, Hermione didn't tend to change her mind very easily. Instead, he shifted closer to her and nudged her foot with his knees. She turned her head to look at him and dropped her chin back to her knees.

"I'll be okay," he promised. He was a skilled duelist and Hermione knew as much. There was little chance he'd be injured. "I might not be back until Thursday, but I'll be okay."

"I'll kill you if you get hurt," she warned. Draco smiled as she glared at him. "I'm serious. If you return with a bruise or a cut or a—a—I don't know! Anything!" She threw her hands up in the air to emphasize her point before pointing at him accusingly. "I'll kill you."

"Understood," Draco replied. Hermione glared at him for a moment longer before sighing and letting go of her knees. She grabbed his left arm and Draco jerked away before letting her run her fingers over the sleeve covering his dark mark.

"Please don't die," she muttered. 

"I'll try not to," he promised.

* * *

Draco wouldn't have cared if Montague had picked on literally anyone else in the room, but it was Hermione he'd just called out and Hermione who had been the punchline to his joke. And really, who would Draco be if he wasn't watching his friends' backs?

"Take that back, Graham," Draco said lowly, trying not to catch Professor Binns' attention. Beside him, Hermione was trying to get him to stop, but Draco wasn't having it.

"Don't think I will," Montague said, smirking at Draco and Hermione as he leaned back in his chair. He crossed his arms as he asked, "Why do you care anyway? Nobody in the Dark Lord's inner circle cares about Mudbloods."

"Draco," Hermione hissed, tugging on his sleeve with one hand and discreetly wiping her face with the other.

Draco probably would have listened to her and stopped if he hadn't seen her swipe under her eyes, but knowing Montague had clearly hit Hermione where it hurt made him twist in his seat so he could face the table behind them. In one smooth motion, he'd stood up and punched Montague so hard he tumbled out of his chair. The loud clatter drew the attention of those not already watching the scene as well as Professor Binns.

"What's going on back there?" he asked, peering up from his history book to look at Draco, Hermione, Avery, and Montague.

On the floor, Montague was cupping his jaw and glaring up at Draco who was not remorseful in the slightest.

"Malfoy punched Montague!" Avery said, pointing at Draco with a smirk. "We were trying to listen when he turned around and punched him in the face."

"I was prevoked," Draco said drily, giving Avery an irritated look. Everyone around them would know Montague had been asking for it, but unfortunately for Draco, they were unlikely to come to his aid. "He was bullying Granger so I stopped him."

Professor Binns looked from Draco to Montague for several seconds before his eyes settled on Hermione.

"Miss Granger?" he asked. Hermione glanced at Draco then up to Professor Binns.

"Malfoy's correct, sir," she said. Professor Binns hummed and nodded.

"One hour of detention for Mr. Malfoy and three hours for Mr. Montague," he announced, returning to his history book. Montague scowled at him as he climbed back onto his chair, but Professor Binns was unfazed. "Now, if you'll stop fighting in my class, I'll return to the lesson."

As soon as Professor Binns was no longer focused on them, Montague leaned forward and yanked on Draco's collar. Draco sputtered, but cast a silent shocking spell that had Montague releasing him quickly. Nevertheless, Draco turned slightly to glare at Montague who just glared right back.

"You better watch it, Malfoy," he hissed. He jerked his head towards Hermione and sneered, "Someone might hurt her when you're not around."


	8. Chapter 8

After the stunt Montague pulled on Monday, Hermione knew Draco was watching her even closer. Anytime she returned to the dorm with a stinging hex, he wanted to know who was responsible and would disappear for half an hour after getting an answer. Any class she didn't have with him was almost a relief until she passed a group of Slytherins in the hallway. With Draco at her side, she was never bothered. The minute he left, though, she would be hit with a hex or shoved to the side.

It wasn't just her getting bullied either. She saw other muggle borns getting shoved around too and while she rushed to defend them, no one else bothered to help her. Not that she necessarily minded though. Hermione didn't want to get Ginny involved as her family was already a target with their not so discreet alliance with the Order. Luna managed to step in every now and then, but she already got bullied enough that Hermione felt bad about making it worse for her. As it was, Hermione had painted a large target over her head by becoming Harry Potter's muggle born friend.

"You should really just skip classes this afternoon," Draco said, fastening his cloak under his chin after lunch on Wednesday. Surprisingly, Montague and his group hadn't been a problem that morning, but clearly Draco wasn't about to let that keep him from worrying.

"I'm not skipping class because you're worried I'll get hit with a stinging hex," Hermione replied. She quickly switched out her textbooks then turned to face Draco. "Between the two of us, you're the one we should be worried about."

"Ah, but there are others who are willing to take the hit for me," he said. "Everyone's just trying to hit you."

Hermione gave him a small smile and pulled open their dormitory door. She walked with him to Snape's office and hesitated before leaving for Herbology.

"You'll be safe, right?" she asked. Draco nodded. Before he could slip into Snape's office, Hermione hugged him tightly. He hugged her just as tight before letting her go and muttering the password to the gargoyles. As soon as he was out of sight, Hermione sighed and continued down the hallway.

Just as she turned around the corner, she came face to face with Professors Alecto and Amycus Carrow. She stumbled out of their way, glancing away as they eyed her disdainfully. As she scurried past, she wondered if they had overheard her and Draco and what would happen to him if they did. She doubted it would be anything good, but with a little luck, they wouldn't have seen or heard anything.

As she hurried to Herbology, she couldn't help but keep thinking back to the Carrows. They were clearly going with Draco and Snape on whatever mission Mr. Malfoy had mentioned, which meant that there wouldn't be Dark Arts that afternoon. With the Carrows and Snape gone, it would be the perfect time to hold a DA meeting. Unfortunately, they still hadn't had their first group meeting and Hermione didn't want to risk it with the multiple new members that had signed up. She'd just have to hope something would draw the Carrows away again in the future.

Hermione continued down the path to the greenhouses, lost in thought about the DA and following the last few class members mindlessly. As she past the smallest, unused greenhouse, she felt something grab hold of her robes and tug her back. She twisted abruptly, breaking free of the hold and turning to find no one behind her. Frowning, Hermione rubbed the back of her neck and stared at the unused greenhouse.

"Ginny?" she asked. It would be just like her friend to play such a trick on her in hopes of getting her attention. "Come on, Gin. That's not funny. I have a class to get to."

Ginny didn't respond, so Hermione groaned and hurried over to the greenhouse door. It was cracked which told Hermione someone was inside as Professor Sprout always left it firmly closed. With a sigh, Hermione lit her wand and stepped into the empty greenhouse, calling out for Ginny once more.

"It's not Weasley hiding here," a male voice said. Hermione jumped and turned around quickly, holding up her wand so she could see who was now standing between her and the closing door. The door latched as Hermione gasped, staring up at Graham Montague's face. Behind him were three other faces, though she couldn't make them out in the dim light.

"Let me out, Montague," Hermione demanded, glancing nervously at the door. "We have Herbology and people will notice if we're missing."

"On the contrary, actually," Montague hummed, stepping forward. In the dark, he spelled Hermione's wand out of her hand before she could see him move. "I think they might appreciate the cleaner learning environment."

"Har har," Hermione snapped, grabbing hold of her book bag strap. "Can I please go now?"

"I'll let you know when you can go," Montague snarled. Hermione moved her head as he spit at her. "Filth."

One of the faces behind Montague moved and suddenly there was a sharp pain in her stomach. She curled over just as another foot came in contact with her ribs. Two more hits to her abdomen and she was on the ground, trying to fend off the attacks that she couldn't see. Montague stood above her, his wand illuminating his face but not helping her see around the greenhouse.

"We thought you'd appreciate a muggle beating more than a wizard duel," Montague chuckled. Someone's heel collided with her shoulder and she cried out in pain. "Does it feel like home? Curled up on the ground, weak and pathetic? It's where you belong, mudblood."

By now, Hermione couldn't track where the different kicks were coming from. All she knew was that her body hurt and there seemed to be blood running down her face. Montague shifted slightly and a second later, a steel toed boot collided with her forehead. Hermione yelled loudly and brought one of her hands up to her forehead. Her fingers came away sticky with blood she couldn't see and she felt a sob escape her lips.

Montague crouched down in front of her and the others stopped kicking her for a moment. She avoided Montague's gaze as he pouted mockingly in front of her. The other boys with him laughed when she let out another, quieter cry.

"You're not safe here," he cooed patronizingly. He reached out with one hand and tangled his fingers painfully into her hair, jerking her head around until she looked at him. "This is just the beginning, mudblood. Don't think Malfoy can protect you from what I have planned for you. By the end of the term, you'll be wishing you'd dropped out like Potter."

Montague let go of her abruptly, pushing her away from him as he got back to his feet. Around her, the boys laughed as she tried to curl up tighter and stop herself from crying. The door to the greenhouse opened and Montague slipped out, still laughing to himself as the other three boys followed him out. Before the greenhouse door could fully shut, Hermione made eye contact with Blaise from across the path. She jumped when the door slammed shut and jumped again when it opened.

"Hey, it's just me," a voice said. She looked up to see Blaise looking at her worriedly and holding his wand up to light the room. "Are you okay?" he asked. He was frowning at her in a way that told her he clearly didn't think she was, so she shook her head and wiped the blood away from her nose.

"I can't find my wand," she whispered. Blaise nodded and scooted away from her to search for her wand. When he found it, he handed it back to her and waited as she stuffed it into her robes and shakily stood up. "Thank you," she said, reaching for the door to go to Herbology.

"You're not going to class like that, Hermione," Blaise told her. She frowned but Blaise shook his head. "I should really take you to Madam Pomfrey, but I know you'll refuse so I'll settle for your dorm. If anyone asks, I'll tell them you're sick, okay?"

Hermione considered it for a moment before agreeing. It hurt to breathe after so many hits to her abdomen and her head was throbbing. Going to class in this state wouldn't help anything, so she agreed to let Blaise walk her up to her dorm and promised to stay there until dinner.

"Draco should be back by morning, okay?" he asked. Hermione nodded and thanked him. He just gave her a tight smile before turning and leaving the dorm. As soon as he'd left, Hermione went upstairs to her bathroom and attempted to clean her face up. The last thing she needed was to parade around the school with a cut forehead and bloody nose.


	9. Chapter 9

Draco returned late Wednesday night. In fact, it was technically Thursday morning when he finally slipped into the common room of the heads' dorm and found himself falling onto his bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, though, images from the mission he'd just got back from replayed in his head. His eyes snapped open and he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

An entire muggle town. He'd helped raid and murder an entire muggle town on the coast and in the morning, he'd have to pretend like he hadn't. Most of the townspeople hadn't survived and the damage had been severe. In the morning, wizard and muggle newspapers alike would bear the news and Draco would carry on as normal. Merlin, things were getting worse and worse.

He blinked.

He really should try and sleep, but it was unlikely he'd actually sleep well. He'd been plagued by nightmares recently and tonight would only make them worse. His supply of Dreamless Sleep potions was running low and he knew he'd need to brew more soon if he wanted to get through the school year without resembling a half dead goblin.

With a groan, Draco pulled himself off of his bed and wandered into the bathroom to wash his face. He'd discarded his Death Eater robes as soon as he'd walked into his room. That hideous mask of his was being kept in Snape's office so he wouldn't risk other students seeing it when he walked down the halls, but the robes themselves were pretty recognisable.

Stepping into the bathroom, Draco paused. He knew he shouldn't pry, but on the sink was a glass jar of dittany cream and some other medical ointment. He frowned and tried not to think about what Hermione could have been using it for as he stepped into the shower. Unfortunately, it was the only thing he seemed to be able to think about as he stood under the hot water and tried to wipe away the guilt of his mission. When he stepped out of the shower, he spotted the ointments again and frowned once more before returning to his room.

He grabbed a Dreamless Sleep potion and downed it in one gulp before lying back down on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, trying not to think of anything while he waited for the potion to hit. When his eyes started to droop and he knew he'd fall asleep soon, he sighed and closed his eyes. He only saw a few of that night's images flash in front of him before everything seemed to disappear.

The next thing Draco knew, he was waking up to his alarm and there was light streaming into his room. He groaned and stretched, thankful he'd been able to sleep despite still being tired. 

As he climbed out of bed, he thought back to the dittany he'd seen in the bathroom last night and decided to see if it was still there. He opened the bathroom door and blinked. In front of him, Hermione was sitting on the sink counter in just a bra. Draco didn't have time to be embarrassed because before he could, he saw dark bruises covering her abdomen and shoulder.

Hermione gasped at the sight of him, reaching for her shirt to cover herself with, but Draco had already seen the marks.

"Hermione?" he asked, staring at the shirt covering her front. "What happened?"

"Before you get upset, it's been handled and you don't need to do anything," Hermione said quickly. Draco raised his eyebrow at her.

"Who handled it? You?" he asked. She frowned at his tone and he immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," she said. She tugged her uniform shirt over her head then slid off the counter top. "Blaise handled it, actually, but you are not to go pester him about it, understand?" she asked, rounding on him quickly. Draco glared at her.

"Only if you tell me what happened," he argued. Hermione glared back at him and they stayed like that for a minute. Hermione was the first to fold.

"Some of the Slytherin boys attacked me on my way to Herbology," she said. Draco waited for her to continue, but she didn't. When he opened his mouth to ask who, she glared at him and said, "I'm not telling you who, Draco. You'll just go hex them."

"They beat you up, Hermione!" Draco exclaimed. Hermione gave him a look and as much as Draco didn't want to, he let it go. "Fine. Did you go see Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes," Hermione answered shortly. She turned away from him and walked out of the bathroom. Draco sighed and glanced at himself in the mirror for a second. Despite how much he wanted to lock her in the dorm and keep her safe, Draco knew Hermione would never agree. He'd have to hope she wouldn't get attacked again. Just being around her so often had painted her as a target. Both Amycus and Alecto had questioned him about her right before the mission and Draco hadn't done anything that could have given them suspicions.

Draco ended up walking to breakfast on his own that morning. He spotted Hermione sitting with Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom so he knew she'd made it safely, but he still wanted to keep an eye on her.

All throughout breakfast and up until the very moment he walked into astronomy without her, Draco kept an eye on her. Other than a few kids who shoved past her or attempted to trip her, no one seemed out to get Hermione which was both good to know and annoying. Whoever had beat her up had clearly known her schedule and that she'd be alone. He just needed to find out who it was before he could pay them back for what they'd done.

Draco was on his way to the Great Hall for lunch before he found out who had hurt Hermione. He hadn't even been looking.

"Hey, Malfoy!"

He turned around to see Montague standing behind him with Avery at his side. Rolling his eyes, Draco turned back around and continued towards the Great Hall.

"Have you seen your mudblood yet?" Montague taunted. Draco stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. Behind him, he heard Montague mutter something to Avery before the sound of footsteps. "I hear she's a little banged up. Makes it difficult to fuck her then, yeah?"

"Say another word and I will end you," Draco growled as Montague stepped in front of him. They were the same height and Montague already had his hand on his wand, but Draco was fast. He could kill Montague before the kid even had the chance to draw his last breath.

"Have I hit a sore spot?" Montague teased. He sneered at Draco and jabbed a finger at his chest. Before he could react, Draco had twisted his arm and he was on the ground.

Montague growled and jumped to his feet as Avery pounced on Draco. Both boys tumbled to the ground in a tangle of fists and kicks while Montague stood above them and sneered. Draco managed to hit Avery hard enough to keep him down before lunging at Montague.

"Stop!"

Draco did not. He punched Montague in the face before Montague rolled out from under him. Montague came up from behind him, wrapped his arm around Draco's neck and tried to suffocate him. Angrily, Draco elbowed Montague in the chest and turned around to face him. Before he could see his fist, Montague had punched Draco in the face and he staggered back.

Avery clambered to his feet while Draco was busy punching Montague's face in, but Draco paid him no attention. He continued fighting Montague, grunting at the few hits Montague managed to get in while battering the other boy even worse.

"Draco! Stop!"

Draco blinked down at Montague, snapping out of his daze for a second at the familiar voice. It was just what Montague needed to throw him off and escape Draco's grasp. Draco clambered to his feet and slammed Montague into the wall.

Behind him, he heard Hermione yell and he spun around to see Avery holding Hermione tightly. His wand was at her throat and when Draco lunged towards him, Hermione cried out in pain. He stopped in his tracks and glared at Avery.

"Make one more move and I'll crucio her," Avery threatened. Draco's fingers itched to grab hold of his wand and curse Avery, but he didn't dare move.

"You hurt her," Draco sneered as Montague moved in front of him. Montague just smirked. "I'll kill you for it."

"Now, Draco," Montague said, "You shouldn't go about defending mudbloods if you're fighting for the Dark Lord."

"I swear to Merlin, Montague," Draco growled. He stepped forward and Hermione inhaled sharply, causing him to freeze.

"Someone should tell him," Montague said, turning to Avery. He glanced back at Draco as he walked towards Hermione and said, "Someone should tell the Dark Lord that one of his loyal servants is in love with the mudblood."

Draco barked out a laugh.

"You're not worthy enough to bow before him, let alone speak to him," Draco said. Montague glared at him, but Draco said, "The last time you tried to see him, you interrupted a meeting and the Dark Lord used you as a plaything. Now let her go and leave before you embarrass yourself more."

Montague snarled at Draco but motioned for Avery to let Hermione go. They stormed down the hall while Draco moved forward to check on Hermione.

"You should have told me it was Montague," Draco said, his hands ghosting over her shoulders. Hermione rolled her eyes and pointed her wand at his split lip.

"You shouldn't have gotten into a fight about it," she told him. Draco frowned and flinched at the slight stinging sensation from her healing spells. Hermione didn't apologise. When she was finished, she stepped back and gave him a look. "Now, can we please go enjoy lunch without getting into any more fights?" she asked.

Draco smiled and nodded, motioning for her to lead the way. She shook her head and scolded him one last time before walking into the Great Hall and going to the Gryffindor table, leaving Draco to listen to Blaise and wish he'd just gone up to the dorm.


	10. Chapter 10

Saturday evening, Hermione waited anxiously on top of the astronomy tower. Neville, Luna, and Ginny stood with her, talking quietly about what they were expecting for the DA and hoping the wards they'd cast would be enough to deter teachers. When the first two students shyly arrived, Hermione grinned and began talking with the immediately.

It took almost an hour for everyone to arrive and when they did, the astronomy tower was feeling very crowded. Hermione had expected as much, but she hadn't wanted to give away the secret of the Room of Requirement away right at first. Besides, there was still a part of her that was worried someone would try and tell a professor or spread the news to the wrong person.

Once Hermione was sure everyone had arrived, she conjured a stool and stood on it so she could see everyone better. She didn't use a voice magnifier as she didn't want people outside of the astronomy tower to hear her, but standing on the stool seemed to catch everyone's attention enough that they stopped talking.

"Hi, everyone," she said. It felt a bit awkward and she almost wanted to start over, but she continued. "I know some of you are familiar with what the DA is, but lots of you are new here so I wanted to explain. First, the parchment you signed to get here was enchanted and will prevent all of you from spreading the word. I know it's strange, but it's a safety thing. We don't want professors or Death Eaters hearing about this."

A few whispers broke out, but they quieted as Hermione explained what would happen should they try to inform someone else about the DA or attempt to reveal the group. Next, Hermione explained what the DA was. She told everyone how Harry had actually been the one to form the group when the Ministry sent Umbridge to teach and how she had decided to take over while he was gone. Several hands went up in the air at that.

"Yes?" Hermione asked, pointing to a nearby student.

"Where is Harry Potter?" the girl asked. Most of the other hands went down and everyone started to whisper.

"Harry is busy on a mission from Dumbledore," Hermione answered. A few more hands went up and she sighed. "I can't tell you what it is, but it does have to do with defeating You Know Who. Now, if you're ready to officially join, line up here so we can distribute the communication coins we use to contact you."

* * *

The DA was thriving. Hermione wanted to say it was because she, Neville, Luna, and Ginny had grown and were able to teach more defense spells with better methods, but she knew it was because everyone was much more motivated with the Carrows around than they'd been with Umbridge. As much as Hermione hated the reason, she was glad the DA was progressing so fast and getting better and better at defense magic with each meeting.

Of course, they only met on Saturdays, but the practices usually went from breakfast until dinner as the Room of Requirement provided lunch and everyone was too excited to quit. They'd had one meeting on a Wednesday afternoon when Hermione found out the Carrows had been called away for another mission, but other than that, they'd only met three other times.

Overall, things seemed to be going strangely smooth. The Carrows had been less cruel when assigning homework and even Montague had stepped back a bit, something Hermione found incredibly suspicious. She made sure to pay a little extra attention to professors and Slytherin students with the way things were and found herself growing frustrated when two weeks in, nothing horrible had happened yet.

Not that she wanted something bad to happen; she just expected it seeing as this seemed to be the calm before the storm.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked, tapping her shoulder and startling her from her thoughts. She twisted around to see Draco holding her cloak and already wearing his and she frowned.

"It's Friday. We don't have patrol tonight," she told him. She stood up nevertheless and took her cloak from him.

"Pucey and Parkinson are both sick under suspicious circumstances," Draco informed her. Her eyes narrowed and she double checked to make sure her wand was easy to grab. "I told them we'd cover tonight if they took over our shift tomorrow."

Hermione nodded and followed him out of their dorm. If she hadn't been caught up on all her homework, she would have panicked at having to patrol unexpectedly. As it was, the suspicious lack of homework made it so she had nothing better to do with her time and she found herself happily walking alongside Draco on a Friday night.

"Do you think Pucey and Parkinson are really sick?" Hermione asked as they walked up the stairs to the seventh floor. Draco snorted and shook his head.

"No," he told her, "Pansy's been going after Pucey for a while now, so I'd bet we'll find them half naked just outside the Slytherin common room."

Hermione made a face and Draco laughed as he opened a closet door. It was empty so they continued down the hall, checking inside each door before going back down to the sixth floor. They didn't find anyone in the corridors until they reached the fourth floor. The two third years that had been caught smuggling food from the kitchens had scurried away so quickly, Hermione was worried they'd trip on their own robes. The third floor revealed some fifth years snogging and a first year Ravenclaw who'd been locked out of the dorms, but other than that, it seemed fairly empty for a Friday night.

"Probably because they know it's Pucey usually doing check," Draco grumbled when Hermione brought it up. Now that he'd said it, it made sense. No one wanted to get caught by Slytherin prefects so it was obvious they'd stay in. Apparently they weren't half as scared of her and Draco as they usually found a number of students out and about during their patrols.

Hermione was about to suggest changing the patrol schedule at the end of the term, but stopped in her tracks at the sound of the castle door slamming shut downstairs. They were in the stairwell leading down to the ground floor, but the sound of the door echoed louder than she thought usual.

"Apparently they're not scared enough to close doors quietly," Hermione said. She hurried down the stairs, ready to catch whoever had let the door slam, but just before she turned the corner, Draco grabbed her arm and stopped her. "What—"

Draco's hand covered her mouth quickly and he pulled her away from the corner. Hermione glared at him, but didn't try to say anything as he glanced behind her worriedly.

"Go upstairs," he whispered, uncovering her mouth and pushing her towards the stairs. "Get McGonagall."

"Why?" she whispered back, drawing her wand and holding it just a bit tighter than usual. "It's just a couple of first years or something."

Draco shook his head and glanced back at the corner.

"No, something feels wrong," he said. Hermione's frown deepened and she grabbed Draco's wrist. He glanced down then looked back up at her. "I just want to be sure, okay? Now go get McGonagall."

"And leave you here to do something stupid? No way!" she hissed. She tugged on his arm and stumbled when he pulled away from her. "Draco, if you're so worried about it, you should come too."

"Hermione," he said, glaring at her. Hermione huffed and let go of his wrist. "I'll stay right here if you're so concerned, but if it is something bad, someone needs to stop them from finding the dorms."

"Fine," Hermione whispered. She cast a silent shield charm between Draco and the rest of the hallway before running up the stairs as silently as she could.

She couldn't be certain where Professor McGonagall would be, but when she got down the hall of the second floor, she cast a patronus that would know where to go. She watched her otter race off in search of McGonagall and hesitated for a moment. Should she go back down with Draco or stay up there to wait for her?

Before she really had a chance to make up her mind, there was a loud howl from down the stairs. Hermione didn't have to think before turning and racing back towards Draco, hoping that it had just been her imagination. She hadn't even gotten to the bottom of the stairs before she saw three werewolves rushing forward.

"Stupefy!" she yelled, hitting the leading werewolf perfectly in the chest. The creature barely stumbled and continued in a mad race towards Draco. Hermione continued down the stairs, yelling curses in hopes of slowing or stopping the wolves.

"Go back upstairs!" Draco yelled at her, shooting a killing curse at a werewolf and missing. Hermione blinked as the green light faded, surprised he'd actually used an Unforgivable curse even if he was a Death Eater.

"McGonagall's on her way," Hermione said, continuing down the stairs. She sent a powerful confusion charm at one of the werewolves and he stopped for a minute. "I'm helping."

Draco glared at her, but before he could continue arguing, the werewolf closest to him jumped forward and tore into his shoulder.

Draco and Hermione both screamed. 

Hermione sent more deadly curses this time, slitting the throat of the werewolf on top of Draco before she'd really even thought about it. There wasn't time to be surprised with herself before the second werewolf was leaping at Draco and the third was rushing towards her.

_"Avada kedavra!"_

Hermione ducked and a stream of green light sailed over her head, hitting the werewolf that was attacking Draco in the forehead. It slumped forward, but the third one was still circling Hermione. She kept her eyes on it, not blinking in case it decided to attack in the split second she closed her eyes.

A jet of purple light shot from behind her and the werewolf's throat split open. It howled in pain, stumbling backwards and crumpling on the floor. Hermione looked back to see Professor McGonagall racing down the stairs, wand outstretched and a firm look on her face.

"You—You used to killing curse," Hermione gasped at her. McGonagall gave her a harsh warning look and Hermione nodded, silently promising never to mention it again.

To her left, Draco groaned and Hermione spun around quickly. McGonagall was already levitating his body out from under the dead werewolf and checking him over briefly.

"Miss Granger, go get Madam Pomfrey and tell her it's urgent," she said. Hermione nodded and raced up the stairs for the second time that night. She left McGonagall far behind as she hurried to the teacher's lounge and sent a patronus in to wake up Madam Pomfrey. She tried not to shake as she waited, but she'd seen the mess the first werewolf had made in Draco's shoulder and she'd watched both wolves bite him. Madam Pomfrey would have to be a miracle worker to get him through that attack alive and relatively unharmed.


	11. Chapter 11

Draco was unconscious in the infirmary when Hermione came running in with Madam Pomfrey following. Professor McGonagall had already settled him on a cot and started cleaning his injuries, but at the sight of Madam Pomfrey, she stepped back to give her the space she needed. Behind them, Hermione hovered anxiously and watched Madam Pomfrey crush dittany leaves while Professor McGonagall stopped the bleeding.

"You said there were three of them?" Madam Pomfrey asked. Professor McGonagall nodded and glanced over Draco. "I only see two bites. Unfortunately, this close to a full moon, there's no way he won't change. Were any other students around?"

"Just Miss Granger," McGonagall said. They both looked back at Hermione who was wringing her hands nervously. "Miss Granger? Were you injured at all?"

Hermione shook her head and took a step forward. Draco groaned as Madam Pomfrey pressed the crushed dittany into one of the bites and Hermione's eyes widened.

"He's going to be a werewolf now, won't he?" she asked. Madam Pomfrey didn't look up but Professor McGonagall smiled sadly at her and nodded.

"Unfortunately, I don't think Headmaster Snape or Professor Carrow are going to be willing to brew him the potions he needs during the school year," McGonagall said. She glanced at Madam Pomfrey who nodded. McGonagall stepped away from Draco and walked over to where Hermione was standing. "You are very skilled at potions, Miss Granger, and the only one who would willingly brew the Wolfsbane potion for Mr. Malfoy."

"I'll do it," Hermione said immediately. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't and if she were honest, she didn't need convincing to help Draco. "I've never brewed it before, but if Headmaster Snape would at least lend me some notes, I'm sure I can do it privately."

"Good," Professor McGonagall said. She glanced back at Draco and Madam Pomfrey and Hermione couldn't help but look over too. Even unconscious, Draco's face was scrunched up in pain.

"Is he going to be alright?" Hermione asked quietly. Professor McGonagall put a hand on Hermione's shoulder, but Hermione didn't look away from Draco.

"He should be," she promised. Hermione nodded numbly and stayed silent until Madam Pomfrey stepped back. She turned to look at both Hermione and Professor McGonagall and smiled grimly.

"It's going to scar and he'll transform at the full moon, but he should wake up by morning," she said. Hermione walked forward and gently rested her hand on Draco's arm. "You're welcome to stay with him, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said, "I'm sure he could use a friend when he wakes up."

Hermione nodded and pulled a chair over to the side of Draco's cot. She could tell he was already healing quickly, but she didn't want to leave just in case something happened while she was gone. Instead, she made herself comfortable in the chair and conjured a blanket to wrap up in.

"I'll be in my office in case he needs anything," Madam Pomfrey promised. Hermione didn't respond, but she listened to Madam Pomfrey's and Professor McGonagall's footsteps fade away. When she was certain they were gone, she grabbed Draco's hand to reassure herself he wasn't dead like he looked.

"You better wake up, Malfoy," she muttered, laying her head on his cot and holding his hand tighter. "You don't get to duck out of this War any earlier than I do."

* * *

Hermione woke up in the morning to a crick in her neck and a sore back. She groaned as she sat up, letting go of Draco's hand so she could stretch a bit. She'd barely let go of him and reached upwards when his eyes snapped open and he snatched her hand back quickly. Hermione yelped in surprise, stopping mid-stretch to look down at Draco who was wide awake. His eyes were darting around the room, but he didn't release his hold on her hand even when his gaze finally settled on her.

"You're awake!" Hermione grinned. She paused as she noticed his eyes looked different than usual. Hesitantly, she looked closer and noticed rather than the familiar grey, his eyes were a bright silver and he was looking at her in a way she couldn't quite place. "Draco?" she asked, reaching towards his face with her free hand. "Are you alright?"

Draco didn't answer. He looked away from her and glared at the curtain around his cot. Right when Hermione was going to ask what the problem was, Madam Pomfrey pulled the curtain aside and stepped forward. When she saw Draco was awake, she smiled and moved towards him.

"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy," she said gently. Draco made a low sound as she stepped towards him and his grip on Hermione's hand tightened. Madam Pomfrey looked at him strangely and took another step forward. "How are you feeling? You had quite—"

Draco growled—actually growled—when Madam Pomfrey stepped closer. Both Madam Pomfrey and Hermione froze, staring at him in shock. If Draco cared, he didn't show it. He pulled Hermione closer and she fell beside him on the cot while Madam Pomfrey stayed still.

"Mr. Malfoy, I just need to check your injuries," she said calmly. She slowly held up a roll of bandages and showed him her wand. "You've just been attacked by werewolves and I need to ensure you are healing properly."

Draco glanced at Hermione and she was thrown off by his silver eyes. She glanced at Madam Pomfrey who remained standing where she was, but didn't look worried.

"Draco, let Madam Pomfrey check you over, alright?" Hermione said softly. She brushed his hair back from his face and his eyes flickered back to normal. "I'll stay right here, but you need to relax and let her help you."

Hermione stared at him until his eyes returned to their usual grey and he blinked in surprise at her. He looked around the room again, apologising when he realised he was holding onto her tightly.

"It's alright," Hermione reassured him. She stayed at his side while Madam Pomfrey moved closer slowly and unwrapped his old bandages.

Draco watched her very carefully as she inspected under each bandage and stepped back in surprise when all of his injuries had healed.

"It appears the werewolf blood acted quickly in healing your injuries," she said. She set the bandage roll on the cot beside him and gently massaged his shoulder that had been bitten.

Draco's eyes flashed silver and he growled at her. Madam Pomfrey gave him a sharp look and Hermione grabbed his hand. His eyes returned to normal a second later and he sheepishly looked away.

Madam Pomfrey released him once she was certain there was no permanent damage to his shoulder. As she stepped back, she glanced from Draco to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, if I may speak with you for a moment," she said. Hermione nodded and got up from Draco's cot. She looked at him to make sure he was okay and when she saw his eyes were grey and not silver, she followed Madam Pomfrey out of the curtained area and into her office.

Madam Pomfrey motioned for Hermione to have a seat so she did, glancing behind her where Draco's cot was shielded off.

"Mr. Malfoy seems to already present very strong lycanthropy traits," she said, something that Hermione had noticed as well. "This could be a problem for you in your shared dormitory as the year progresses and he is forced to adjust to his new body. I would suggest talking to the Headmaster about separating for your own safety."

"Absolutely not," Hermione said immediately. Whatever was happening with Draco, he clearly needed someone around. The last thing she wanted to do was move out of their dorm when he was clearly unstable. "Draco and I are friends, he would never hurt me."

"Perhaps not," Madam Pomfrey ceded, "But Mr. Malfoy is no longer himself. He's now suffering from lycanthropy and as I'm sure you know, this can make him very dangerous."

Hermione nodded, but she wasn't about to be swayed. She'd always felt very strongly about magical creatures and werewolves did not terrify her as much as they did other wizards. Draco was not a monster just because he'd been bit; he was still her friend and he needed her around.

"I understand, but I'm not going to move dorms," she said. Madam Pomfrey sighed but nodded.

"I just thought I'd suggest it," she said. She stood back up and Hermione did as well. "It looks like the Headmaster and Minerva are back. Come with me and we'll discuss Mr. Malfoy's condition further."

Hermione frowned, but followed Madam Pomfrey out of her office and over to where Snape and McGonagall were. Something outside the window caught her attention and she moved closer to see what it was, leaving Madam Pomfrey to talk with McGonagall and Snape alone. She didn't see anything right away, so she stayed for a moment longer just to get a better look, but was pulled away from the window at a loud yell.

"What did you do to Hermione?"

Draco. She jumped away from the window and burst through the curtain around his cot to see Draco frozen mid-lunge. McGonagall had her wand out and Madam Pomfrey looked a little shaken even though Draco was clearly unable to move towards her. What really caught Hermione's attention, however, was his silver eyes.

"Draco!" she exclaimed, moving directly in front of him. He was glaring at McGonagall but she made no move to remove the spell. "Let him go," Hermione said, putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him back. McGonagall refused.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy is in no condition to be—"

"Let him go!" Hermione said again, louder and more irritated this time. Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes at her but removed the spell. The second Draco could move, he pulled Hermione to his chest and took two large steps away from the three adults. Hermione strained to look behind her where all three professors now had their wands trained on Draco.

"Draco, let Miss Granger go," Snape ordered. Draco's silver eyes narrowed and his hold on her tightened. "Draco, do not make me ask again."

"I'm okay," Hermione told them. She struggled to get a hand free so she could reach Draco's face. At her touch, his eyes immediately left the professors and he looked down at her. "Draco, you have to let me go. I'll stay right here, but you have to talk to the Headmaster and McGonagall."

"Miss Granger, you cannot stay, you must return to classes," Snape drawled. Hermione twisted around and sent him a fierce glare while Draco snarled at him.

"He won't listen to you if I don't stay," Hermione said. How she knew this, she wasn't sure. However, she knew for certain that Draco would not behave if she were forced to leave. "He'll let me go and listen if I can stay."

"No," Draco argued. Hermione turned back to him and glared. Draco's upper lip curled back, but he stopped himself before snapping at her. "Fine," he agreed unhappily. He gave Snape a nasty look and slowly released Hermione. As soon as she was free enough to turn and look at her professors, she stepped between them and Draco whose eyes were flickering between grey and silver.

"Let's talk," she said, grabbing hold of Draco's hand and watching his eyes slowly return to normal.


	12. Chapter 12

Everything felt different to Draco. He knew that was to be expected, but it was still slightly uncomfortable. Madam Pomfrey had tried to explain what he could expect as a result of the werewolf bites, but he wasn't sure there was really a way to describe what he felt like.

He'd known something was wrong the second he'd woken up in the infirmary. He still wasn't sure what had even made him wake up. It hadn't felt like he was entirely in control when he'd snatched Hermione's hand back and refused to let go. Something in him had turned absolutely feral and the thought of Hermione leaving or anyone else taking her away made him furious. After being told he'd been bit twice by werewolves the previous night, Draco had a slightly better understanding of what was going on.

How he was going to explain things to anyone else, however, he had no idea. Thankfully, Hermione seemed to understand that leaving his side wasn't an option at the moment and had spent the entire morning with him in the infirmary while Snape and McGonagall attempted to devise a plan for the following week now that he was a werewolf.

Merlin, he was a werewolf. His father would have his head. No longer a pureblooded wizard, he was a disgrace to his family. He'd still be expected to fight for the Dark Lord as both a wizard and a werewolf, but would he be demoted from Death Eater? His father was sure to torture him for such a disgrace.

"—not enough time to brew a potion," Snape was saying. Draco blinked and saw McGonagall nodding. "I have a small supply I keep on hand, but it will hardly last this month. Besides, the time to start taking the potion was yesterday, he'll already be a day late."

"Better a day late than not at all," McGonagall said. Draco hated how they were discussing it without him, so he turned to look at Hermione who was sitting beside him on his cot. He felt something warm rush over him just looking at her and it took all of his self control not to pull her to his chest again and touch her all over.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked, looking at him worriedly. She grabbed his hand and the urge to touch her subsided slightly, but not enough to easily ignore.

"I don't know what's happening to me," he muttered. He pulled away from her and found himself immediately needing to touch her again, so he grabbed her hand once more. "I can hear footsteps in the dungeons and on the third floor, everything smells so strongly, and it feels like there's a whole separate person in my mind."

"That would be your wolf, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said. Draco glared at her for eavesdropping, but she didn't look concerned. She nodded at Snape and turned to face Draco better. "A trait of lycanthropy, as you probably know, is that you have two similar, yet different personalities. One is your original self and the other is your wolf."

Draco took a second to process the information. He'd never read much on werewolves as his father had been adamant they weren't worth his time, so it was unsurprising he didn't know much about his situation. With a little luck, Hermione would be able to better explain things to him.

"Is that what the books say?" Draco asked. McGonagall looked unenthused by his bitter tone, but Draco didn't feel particularly remorseful. "If I'm cleared, I'd like to be leaving now. I'm sure no one wants a werewolf roaming the halls before the full moon."

"Mr. Malfoy, I strongly suggest you stay here for observation," Madam Pomfrey said. Draco glared at her and felt something flash through him angrily. A second later, Hermione was squeezing his hand and he calmed down.

"I'm leaving," he announced, standing up from his cot. "If you wish to observe me—" he spit out the word like it was venom, "—then you'll have to do it when I'm not in a foul mood."

He grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and pulled her out of the infirmary with him, ignoring the calls for him to come back. Behind him, Hermione hurried to keep up as he quickly returned to their dormitory. As soon as they'd arrived in the head's dormitory, he let go of Hermione and took several steps away from her.

He could feel something else—probably the wolf McGonagall had mentioned—longing to touch Hermione more now that they weren't in a public place and it took great control to not turn around and grab her. Even from across the room, he could smell her and it was quickly becoming overwhelming.

"You need to leave," he grit out, tugging at his hair. Clearly dragging her to the dorm with him had been a bad idea, but he was not about to leave her in the presence of Snape, a known Death Eater.

"What? No!" she said. He heard her step forward and he stuck out a hand behind him to stop her. He heard her stop, but now that she was a few steps closer, her scent was even stronger. "Draco, what is going on? You dragged me from the infirmary to the dorm and now you won't even look at me."

"I know, and I'm sorry," he said, taking a small step away from her. Something inside of him snarled at him to stop moving away and he inhaled sharply. "I need you to leave, though. I'm not—I don't think I'm in control right now."

"Draco," she said softly. She took a small step forward and Draco whirled around to glare at her. She sucked in a breath and pulled back the hand she'd extended towards him.

"Go away, Hermione," he growled. Her look of surprise was replaced with one of frustration as she glared back at him. He moved forward against his will but Hermione didn't flinch. "Granger, I'm asking you to leave before I can't control myself."

"No, I'm staying right here," she said, stomping her foot to emphasize her point. Her face softened even as Draco continued to glare at her. "You're not going to hurt me, Draco, and I know that, so no, I'm not going to leave this dorm."

Draco could feel himself losing what little control he had as he stared at Hermione. Clearly his newfound wolf had a very strong attraction to Hermione as he found himself leaning forward slightly to inhale her scent.

"Hermione, please leave," he said, trying to move backward but finding he couldn't. His feet refused to move backward and instead he took a step closer. 

"I'm not afraid of you, Draco," she said. She reached forward to grab his hand and the instant she touched him, Draco lost all control.

He lunged forward and pinned Hermione to the wall. Something inside of him thrilled at having Hermione so close and he found himself kissing her roughly a split second later. From under him, Hermione gasped and he forced her mouth open, pressing closer to her and tangling one of his hands in her hair. He reveled in the feeling of her body pressed against his and kissed her harder. He pulled back just enough he could press kisses along her jawline, smirking at the way she seemed to melt at the touch.

When he hit a particularly sensitive spot, Hermione let out a low moan and he immediately snapped out of the daze he'd been in. He pulled away from her sharply and stared at her wide-eyed. Just below her jaw, he'd left a mark that was already beginning to color.

Hermione's eyes opened and he took another painful step back.

"I'm—I'm sorry," he gasped, stumbling back until he hit the back of the sofa. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I don't—I didn't have control."

"It's alright," she said, her face red as she avoided looking directly at him. Draco shook his head, angry with himself for forcing himself on her like that. Wolf or not, he knew he needed better control over whatever had just happened.

"It's not," he snapped. Hermione jumped and scowled at him.

"Don't get angry with me," she replied. Draco narrowed his eyes at her but felt guilty for snapping. It wasn't her fault he'd forced himself on her.

"I need you to leave," he said slowly. Hermione glared at him, but this time she didn't argue. She snatched her wand from where she'd dropped it on the ground and disappeared out the door without a word. Her scent lingered for several minutes even after she'd left and Draco could feel his wolf longing to chase after her. Instead, he turned to the stairs and stormed up to his room, locking himself inside before he trashed the common room.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione returned to the heads' dormitory late that night and went directly up to her room. She hadn't seen Draco, but his door was shut and she doubted he'd be wandering throughout the castle. At the moment, she wasn't sure if it was a good thing she hadn't seen him or not. She definitely hadn't expected him to kiss her like he had earlier but she didn't want him to think she was avoiding him. The only reason she'd left afterward was because of the look in his eyes and the way he seemed so desperate to not lose control around her again.

She spent that day reading and thinking. She didn't know much about werewolves despite Snape trying to teach about them during third year. Her knowledge was limited, but the library was an endless source of information and she was very determined.

By the time she decided to finally go to sleep, she'd learned a lot more about werewolves than she'd ever thought possible. Her head was spinning with information as she crawled under her covers and tried to figure out a way to help Draco through his first full moon. She knew it was too dangerous to be with him during it, but if there was a way for her to help him feel more prepared and understand it better, perhaps it would help.

It wasn't until she'd woken up from a nightmare about the Order getting killed by Death Eaters that she came up with a possible solution. As she laid in her bed, trying not to think about the dead bodies she'd seen in her dream, she was suddenly struck with an idea. Remus Lupin was a werewolf and had experienced the full moon at Hogwarts. If she could contact him, perhaps he'd be open to talking with Draco. Of course, she was almost certain he wouldn't agree to it if he knew it was Draco he'd be talking to, but she could fool him a bit, perhaps.

It was with that thought that she sent an owl after the sun had risen, asking Remus to meet her and a friend in Hogsmeade that afternoon. It was short notice, but she knew if she mentioned her friend had recently been attacked by a werewolf, Remus would come running. Part of her felt bad about keeping information from him, but the other part knew how badly Draco needed to actually talk to someone before the full moon occurred.

When she came back to the dorm, Draco was waiting for her in the common room. She stopped short at the sight of him and tried not to blush as she remembered how he'd kissed her the previous night. Despite how sudden and rough it had been, she hadn't exactly hated it.

"Where did you go?" Draco asked, looking up at her. She gave him a warning glare at his sharp tone and his face softened, but he did not apologise.

"I sent a letter to Remus asking him to meet us in Hogsmeade this afternoon," she answered. Draco's eyes widened, but before he could panic, she said, "I thought he might be able to offer some advice seeing as he was a werewolf at Hogwarts too. He might also be able to explain your wolf's instincts and personality to you better than a library book."

For a minute, Draco just stared at her without reacting. Hermione shifted on her feet, a little uncomfortable, and waited for him to either refuse or call her out for meddling. It almost looked like it would be both when he opened his mouth, but a second later he closed it and continued to stare at her.

"So, is that a 'yes'?" she asked hesitantly. Draco blinked as if he'd forgotten she was still there.

"Yes," he said quietly. Hermione slowly smiled. "But I want to talk to him alone."

Hermione's smile fell slightly. Of course, that was understandable and she should have expected it, but she still wished he'd let her sit with them.

"Of course," she said, plastering the smile back on. "I've been dying to visit the new bookstore across the street from Honeydukes. I'll leave as soon as you've both met."

Draco nodded once then stood up and abruptly disappeared in his room. Hermione sighed at his disappearance before trudging up the stairs as well so she could shower and dress for the day.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Hermione walked in to find the Great Hall mostly empty as the few early risers ate quietly. It took her a second of staring to realise no one else knew about the werewolf attack that had taken place two nights before. Even Ginny seemed oblivious as she asked Hermione what her plans for the day were.

"I'm going into Hogsmeade with Draco," she replied. Ginny wiggled her eyebrows at her but didn't tease her further as Neville dropped down onto the bench beside her.

"Good morning, Neville," Hermione said kindly. Neville gave her a sleepy grin and reached forward to scoop a large serving of potatoes onto his plate.

"Hey, Hermione," he replied, "Feeling any better?"

Hermione was confused for just a second before remembering what had happened in the DA the day before. She'd been terribly late and so distracted, she'd had to tell them all that she'd come down with some sort of flu. Ginny had seemed skeptical of course, but everyone else had believed her and allowed her to leave practice after only an hour. Leaving the DA with Neville, Ginny, and Luna hadn't seemed like a bad idea at all and she'd spent the rest of the time avoiding Draco in the library.

"Yes, I think it was just something I ate," she said. Neville nodded and turned to talk to Ginny, letting Hermione finish her breakfast in peace.

She had just finished and was getting ready to leave the Great Hall when an owl flew down to deliver her a letter. It didn't wait for a reply and after stealing a treat and delivering its message, the owl flew off. Ignoring Ginny and Neville's stares, she opened the letter and read through the short note Remus had sent.

_Hermione,_

_I can only meet with your friend for a short while as Voldemort has a keen eye on Hogsmeade right now. Meet me in the back corner of Rosmerta's at noon._

_R.L._

It was about what she expected, but noon was hardly three hours away. The walk to Hogsmeade wouldn't take long, but she'd first need to find Draco and convince him he would be fine to walk with her to the wizarding village.

"Who's the letter from, 'Mione?" Ginny asked, snatching the letter from Hermione. Hermione incinerated the letter before Ginny could read it and received a glare in return. "You didn't have to do that."

"You shouldn't try reading my mail," Hermione countered. Ginny rolled her eyes and returned to her breakfast. "I'll see you at dinner," Hermione said, standing up from the table.

"Wait, where are you going?" Neville called after her. She faintly heard him turn to Ginny and repeat his question, but neither of them bothered to answer him.

"Just talk to Luna about nargles or gillyweed," Hermione heard Ginny say before she left the Great Hall.


	14. Chapter 14

The walk to Hogsmeade was silent. Draco was too busy keeping his wolf under control with Hermione walking so close to keep up a conversation and Hermione seemed to notice. Even with a cloak to muffle the smell of her, Draco was still overwhelmed by her scent and every gust of wind that blew it towards him made it that much more difficult to control.

He'd hardly slept last night. Hermione had disappeared shortly after he'd kissed her and hadn't returned until late, but that hadn't seemed to calm his wolf. Even after he was certain she'd returned to her room and slipped into her bed, he'd tossed and turned.

Whatever had happened when that werewolf bit him had clearly affected more than just his blood. He knew he'd turn at the full moon, but even now, all of his senses were heightened and there was a part of his mind that was uncontrollably feral. He hoped Professor Lupin could help explain what was happening and why he had an almost undeniable urge to take Hermione every time he laid his eyes on her.

"I don't suppose you'll talk to me, will you?" Hermione asked, interrupting his thoughts sharply. As she turned her head to look at him, Draco caught a stronger whiff of her scent and almost—almost—growled.

"What would we talk about?" he asked in return. Hermione shrugged and took a longer step than usual so she could step on a crunchy leaf. Draco couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face when she grinned at the sound.

"How do you feel?" she asked. Draco frowned and she quickly backtracked. "Obviously, everything's different and I know that—I read a lot on werewolves last night and I think one of the biggest changes is you now have an inner wolf which is just—so interesting! Did you know that werewolves—"

"You're rambling," Draco said, cutting her off. She stopped and frowned at the ground.

"Sorry," she muttered. Draco felt his heart clench at how he'd upset her and hurried to fix it even without his wolf snarling at him for hurting her feelings.

"No, I'm sorry, Hermione," he said. He grabbed her hand briefly, but the feral response of his wolf had him immediately dropping her hand. "It's complicated. I can't—I don't think I could describe it if I wanted."

"Well, start with just one thing," she suggested. Draco gave her a strange look and she smiled. "I know werewolves have heightened senses, so what's that like?"

Recognising this as a good way to distract himself from her scent and the way his wolf urged him to snog her senseless at the very least, he decided to try and answer. It was a little difficult at first, but a few minutes in and he was able to give her a better description of how his hearing had changed. He could hear people talking faintly in Hogsmeade even though they were still several minutes away. Hogwarts was a little too far at this point, but Hogsmeade was growing steadily louder.

He avoided talking about how he could smell her distinctly and how every time they touched, he had the strongest urge to take her right there, no matter where they were. By the time the reached the Hog's Head, his tongue was dry from talking and Hermione's eyes were bright with interest.

"I hope Lupin can maybe explain some of the other changes," he muttered, glancing at the Hog's Head. He'd been able to smell the other wolf when they were almost halfway to the village. His wolf had snarled at the scent then, and now, with Hermione walking towards the new wolf, he had to clench his hands tightly around his robes to keep from drawing her away. Clearly his wolf did not like the idea of Hermione being anywhere near another.

"Remus should be waiting inside," she said, leading the way into the Hog's Head. Draco followed her closer than usual, glaring at anyone who looked at them. If Hermione cared that his chest was pressing against her back even as they walked, she didn't say anything.

Draco spotted Lupin before Hermione did and glared at him for several seconds. Lupin looked up and made eye contact, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw Draco was the one with Hermione. Had she not told him who she was bringing?

"Remus!" she whispered excitedly. She moved to hug him, but Draco snatched her back before she could step too close. His upper lip curled back as he growled lowly and Lupin had the courtesy to stop reaching for Hermione.

"I'll admit, Hermione," Remus sighed, returning to his seat, "I did not expect you to bring a Malfoy. You're sure this isn't a ruse to trick the Order?"

Draco glared at Remus and remained standing directly behind Hermione. Perhaps he shouldn't let her leave while he talked with Lupin.

"I saw it happen, Remus," Hermione said softly. Lupin glanced over Draco warily and Draco made to growl at him again, but Hermione's hand grabbed his and he stopped.

Draco and Lupin eyed each other warily for several uncomfortable seconds.

"I hear you may have some questions," Remus said glancing down at his cup of tea before looking back at Draco. He gestured to the seat in front of him and Draco glanced down at Hermione.

"I'll be just down the street," she promised, squeezing his hand before letting it go. He wanted to grab her hand back, but he refrained. "Come get me when you're done."

Lupin nodded at Hermione who smiled at them both before leaving the Hog's Head. Even though her scent remained behind, Draco was tense as he took the seat across from Lupin. The man silently sipped his tea as he eyed Draco who pretended to be unbothered by the constant staring.

"What is it that bothers you most right now, Draco?" Lupin asked, setting his tea on the table and staring kindly at Draco.

Off the top of his head, Draco could list many things that were bothering him. He could smell and hear everything nearby, the chair was almost too small for him, he was now a half-blood, and the werewolf in front of him had been eyeing Hermione. Instead of listing all of these things off, however, he settled on what he knew he would likely not find in any book.

"I can hardly control myself," he muttered, embarrassed to even admit it. His wolf hated to admit something to another werewolf, but he forced it aside in hopes of gaining something useful from his time with Lupin.

"Explain," Lupin said. Draco glared at him, but Lupin looked unafraid as he sipped his tea some more. When had Rosmerta even started serving tea?

"My wolf," Draco bit out. He knew that was the answer Lupin was looking for because the older man nodded. "I can't control it and I don't—" he sighed and took a deep breath, avoiding Lupin's eyes. "—it has very strong urges," he said tightly, "and some impulses are hard to contain."

He risked a glance at Lupin who was nodding in understanding. Somewhere behind him in the restaurant, a group cheered loudly. He glared at the wall, wishing they would shut up and wondering if they had actually yelled or if it was just his heightened senses.

"Around Hermione?" Lupin asked. Draco snarled at the use of her name and that seemed to answer Lupin's questions better than any word he could have spoken. He hummed and looked at Draco closely. "Your wolf was threatened by me earlier, yes?"

Draco gave a short nod and Lupin hummed again.

"While some of your wolf's urges may be stronger because of the nearness of the full moon," Lupin said, drawing Draco's attention away from the bar counter and back to their conversation. "You should be prepared for these urges to continue even when the full moon is nowhere nearby."

"It's only her," Draco said. Lupin frowned and Draco struggled to explain as his wolf grew further embarrassed in the presence of another. "My wolf—He doesn't feel the same towards others. It's only Hermione."

"That is to be expected," Lupin informed him. Draco frowned now and Lupin attempted to explain. "I'm sure you've heard that all werewolves have mates; some may never find them, but many do. I was lucky enough to find mine and clearly, you seem to have also."

Draco looked up at him sharply but Lupin did not recoil. Instead, he smiled at Draco and finished off his tea.

"I can't be certain, of course, but it sounds to me like that is what has happened," Lupin said. He glanced over Draco's shoulder as the Hog's Head door opened and closed. "Hermione—" Draco's lip curled, but Lupin continued, "—is your mate, however much I hate to say it. Your wolf will stop at nothing to claim her and if you are not careful, you will hurt her." Lupin stared fiercely at Draco, not letting him miss a single word as he said, "If I get word that you have hurt her, intentionally or not, it will be the last day you breathe, you can be sure of it."

"I would never harm her," Draco snarled lowly, put off by the mere suggestion of it.

"You'd best not, boy," Lupin replied. He flashed his now elongated teeth at Draco before standing up abruptly. Draco jumped to his feet as well, knocking over his chair and getting a few stares. "The full moon is in three days and I know Severus has very little Wolfsbane potion on hand. With the watch on apothecaries and the limitation of potion ingredients, you'd better plan now for future full moons or you'll put everyone at Hogwarts in risk, understood?"

Draco glared fiercer at him in response and Lupin nodded. He pulled his coat tighter but rather than going towards the front door, Lupin made to go into Rosmerta's back office. He paused before he fully disappeared.

"Be smart, Draco," he said without turning around. Draco watched him slip into the hallway and disappear around the corner silently.

Once Lupin had gone, Draco turned and left for the bookshop he knew Hermione would be in.


	15. Chapter 15

Draco's entire body hurt. He only had vague memories of the night and following day he'd spent as a werewolf, but he could clearly remember both transformations. If the cracking of his bones hadn't been off-putting enough, the feeling of his muscles tearing and realigning was.

He hadn't actually been as out of control as he'd expected. From what his father had told him about werewolves and watching Greyback's pack attack others, he'd expected to rage through the forest slaughtering anything that moved. Instead, the Wolfsbane potion had kept him from turning so feral and he'd kept his mind while his body had changed. He'd spent most of his time in the Shrieking Shack, but after he got bored, he'd roamed the forest and tried not to think about how he'd face this every month.

It was an hour after his transformation back to human that he felt like he'd be able to move. He groaned as he pushed himself off of the floor and crawled over to the tunnel that would take him back to Hogwarts. He stopped several times along the way and when he finally crawled out from under the Whomping Willow, it was well past dark.

He could hear chatter in the Great Hall as dinner finished up and even though he was starving, he wasn't in the mood to join. Instead, he left the Whomping Willow and headed back to the head's dormitory as quickly as his exhausted body would let him. It wasn't until he was at the bottom of the staircase leading up to his dorm that he caught a drift of Hermione's scent mingled with another. His wolf went crazy after not being around her for a full 24 hours and seeing as Draco had caged himself away the days leading up, he really should have expected it.

Still, part of him was amazed that he made it up the stairs as fast as he did. He'd hardly done more than blink before he was throwing open their dormitory door and his wolf was snarling at the scent of another man.

At his abrupt intrusion, Hermione and Blaise jumped and turned to look at him. Blaise seemed to have the decency to be standing by the fireplace across from Hermione who was sat on the couch, but Draco's wolf hardly cared. He could smell Blaise clearly and knew he'd been in the dorm for at least a day. As far as Draco knew, he could have stayed the night while he was gone.

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She snatched something off of a nearby study desk and hurried over to him. "I made you a pain relief potion. Remus was always sore after the full moon, so I thought perhaps you could use it."

Draco tried really hard to keep from snarling at Blaise, he did. Logically, he knew Blaise would never touch or hurt Hermione, but his wolf didn't seem to care. The only thing he could really seem to think about was how Blaise had taken over his space in the short time he'd been gone.

"What's he doing here?" Draco demanded, glaring at Blaise. Blaise raised an eyebrow at him but didn't seem otherwise concerned.

"He helped me with the Wolfsbane potion last night," Hermione answered. She grabbed his hand and forced the pain relief potion into his clenched fist. At her touch, his wolf subsided a little as the urge to fight Blaise was replaced with the urge to hold Hermione tightly. "Oh good," she said, smiling up at him and he took the potion, "Your eyes are back to normal."

He looked at her curiously, wondering what she meant. Did his eyes change? Why did that happen?

"Blaise has been worried about you," Hermione said. Draco looked from Hermione to Blaise who was very pointedly avoiding his gaze. "He's offered up his mother's store of bezoars so I can make the Wolfsbane potion for the foreseeable future."

"Blaise was worried?" Draco asked, smirking as his best friend glared at him.

"I won't be during the next full moon," he announced, glaring at Hermione for revealing his poorly hidden secret. "Now that I know you're still a right arse, I'll keep my worry reserved for those who deserve it."

Draco's smirk morphed into a glare at that but Blaise just smirked. He pushed himself away from the fireplace and walked over to where Draco and Hermione were standing.

"Now that I've bullied Draco for the day, I'll take my leave," he said. He grabbed his book bag from the floor and walked towards the door, turning to wave at them before he disappeared. As he pushed open the door, he looked at them both and said, "Don't be dumb, kids."

The door closed after him before either Hermione or Draco could scold him.

Even though Blaise's scent still lingered, Draco's wolf couldn't help but remind him he was now alone with Hermione, something he hadn't allowed for several days. The smell of her had his wolf going crazy and his thoughts narrowing down to nothing but her. He wasn't really thinking when he reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, but as he pulled her even closer, he knew exactly what he was doing.

"I missed you," he said, leaning forward until his face was buried in the crook of her neck. He inhaled deeply and relished in her scent. His wolf was happy until she hesitantly hugged him back and he realised he wanted more.

"Are we back on good terms now?" she asked.

Draco just hummed and lightly kissed her neck. Hermione tensed but didn't pull away as he continued kissing down her neck. He pulled her closer, and she melted against his chest when he kissed a particularly sensitive spot.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but perhaps we should talk about what happened last time?" she asked. Her voice was breathy and it made Draco smirk against her neck.

"No," he replied. He could see Hermione frowning in his mind but he ignored the image of it in favour of others that his wolf wanted to think of. "You smell good," he told her, kissing back up her neck until he reached her jaw.

"Draco," she argued. She brought her hands up between them and pushed him off of her.

He growled at being forced away and pulled her even tighter against his chest. She glared up at him and shoved his face away when he tried to smell her again. His wolf snarled and Draco struggled not to lash out in frustration. He grabbed her arm before she could pull it back, preventing her from moving further away. He was almost certain that if she left now, he would go crazy.

"You can't do that," he said, gritting out the words as he focused hard on shoving his wolf back. "I can't—The wolf won't stand for it, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened before she tilted her head to look at him curiously. Draco found himself admiring her even as he struggled against his wolf.

"The wolf?" she asked. Draco nodded tightly, releasing her arm when she tugged on it. She didn't step away, though. "What's he like? Your wolf?" she clarified.

His wolf surged forward at the mention and when Draco blinked, he had his hands tangled in her hair. Hermione didn't look concerned. Instead, she smiled softly up at him and Draco stayed very tense as he refrained from giving his wolf more control.

"I don't think now is a good time," he said tersely. He let go of Hermione and tried to take a large step back. His feet barely moved and his wolf snarled at him from leaving Hermione's side. "You should probably go. Stay the night in the Gryffindor Tower."

Hermione frowned at him.

"No," she argued. His wolf begged him to snatch her back up in his arms and take her up to his room, but Draco refrained.

"Hermione, just go," Draco said. Hermione shook her head which was unfortunate because it meant Draco could now smell her even better and his control was wavering. Even now, he took a step back toward Hermione and reached one arm up to cup the back of her neck.

"Is this what he's like? Is this the wolf?" she asked quietly, staring up at him as he looked down at her. His wolf shoved forward and Draco felt his self control waver significantly.

"Not yet," Draco murmured. His face was so close to hers now he could feel her breathe.

It was too much and not enough all at once and Draco was getting tired of fighting it. She hadn't left when she clearly knew what he fighting; maybe she wanted him as badly as he wanted her right now.

Without another thought, Draco surged forward and pressed his lips on hers. She didn't gasp this time like she had the first time, so Draco had to press his tongue against her lips before she opened her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his torso as she wobbled slightly and Draco wrapped his free hand around her waist.

One of her hands reached up to pull his head closer and she gently tugged on the hairs at the nape of his neck. Draco purred at the feeling and Hermione smiled against his lips.

He hadn't even realised he was walking her backward until they hit the sofa. Hermione let out a surprised gasp and started to fall back, but Draco grabbed her tightly before she could. Her hands flew to his shoulders and Draco took the opportunity to kiss down her neck once again.

When he hit her sensitive spot, he hovered over it for a moment. Rather than just kiss it and move on, he lowered his lips and suckled the spot just below her jawline. Hermione jumped slightly when he nipped at her but relaxed when he licked over the mark soothingly. One day he'd mark her for real, but now was not the time.

She moaned when he sucked hard on her skin and Draco's self-control slipped even further.

Continuing to kiss and nip at her neck, he said, "Don't make—" He nipped her, "—those sounds—" He licked over the spot, "—or I'll lose more—" He paused for suck on her neck for several seconds, making sure there would be a mark in the morning. As he moved further down her neck, he said, "—of my control."

Hermione moaned again when he kissed her collar and his hold on her tightened even more.

"Maybe I want you to lose control," she breathed. Draco growled at the implication and moved his lips back up to hers.

He kissed her hard, certain her lips would be bruised and swollen the next morning. Hermione didn't pull away though.

"Hermione," he warned, pulling away just enough to look at her. He knew already that if he tried to stop, his wolf would give him hell. If she told him to though, he would force himself away. "I won't be able to stop," he told her, cupping her face and holding himself away from her. She frowned up at him as he said, "The wolf won't let me; not if we keep this up."

There was a pause as Hermione considered what he was warning her of. Even now, Draco struggled to keep from continuing to kiss her, but he waited for her to make the decision on her own. He refused to let his wolf force her to choose.

"I don't think—" she paused, taking a deep breath as she looked up at him. "I'm not ready for that, Draco, but I like it when you kiss me and I like this." She gestured between them, hitting his chest as they were so close. "Just don't shut me out again!" she said quickly, grabbing his arm.

Draco brushed his thumb against her cheek and nodded. His wolf still wanted to pick her up and take her to his room, but the thought of curling around her and kissing her late into the night appealed to his wolf as well. He wouldn't be able to pull himself away from her side now, his wolf would make sure of it, but both his wolf and his own mind seemed to agree on cuddling.

"Alright," Draco agreed. He reached down and scooped her up into his arms. She yelped in surprise and wrapped her arms around him to stabilise herself, something his wolf found very pleasing.

As he settled down on the sofa, Hermione shifted into a more comfortable position that allowed him to happily nuzzle her neck and hold her close. His wolf very happily took advantage of Draco's moment of weakness while Draco wondered if he'd ever have control again. His thoughts were very quickly interrupted by Hermione pulling his lips back down to hers and kissing him sweetly.


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione knew the exact moment Draco arrived in the bookstore. Sure, she'd heard the door open and close, but she'd known it was Draco even before he grabbed her hand from behind and inhaled deeply. She turned away from the bookshelf to look up at him, wondering if he'd get offended if she asked how his meeting with Remus had gone. He was tense, but he'd been tense since they arrived in Hogsmeade earlier that day.

"Was Remus able to help?" she asked. Draco's eyes narrowed slightly at Remus's name, but Hermione ignored it.

"Yes, he was able to explain some things that seem to make more sense now than when he said them," he replied. There was something in the way that he stared at her as he spoke that made her toes curl and her lower abdomen coil, but she refused to acknowledge that.

Draco was her best friend and had recently been attacked by a werewolf. No matter how hotly he'd kissed her after, she needed to remember he hadn't been thinking clearly and was likely regretting his actions now.

"Oh?" Hermione asked. It seemed to be the only word she could form for a moment until she could gather her bearings. "Well, I'm glad he could help."

Draco hummed and glanced over the bookshelf she'd been poking through. He looked down at the books in her hands and she flushed when she realised she'd been looking for books on werewolves. The library at Hogwarts hadn't had everything she'd been looking for, but she'd found a book containing the diary of a werewolf and another book about how man and wolf interacted within a werewolf's brain. It seemed to take a more scientific approach which was something Hermione had been thrilled to find.

"I thought maybe it could help?" she said, offering him the books. "I know it's probably not the same as experiencing it, but I'd like to understand a little better."

Draco smiled at her but didn't take the books.

"Finish up here and we'll return to Hogwarts," he told her. Hermione grinned and turned back to the bookshelf, skimming over book titles and pulling out ones she thought might give her a better understanding of what Draco was going through.

It occurred to her as they left the bookstore that it might be worthwhile to have Draco read through them first and make notes of what felt accurate and what did not, but she wasn't sure he'd be particularly open about the idea. His wolf and all the resulting changes due to his werewolf bites were still new and he didn't seem excited to talk about them just yet.

"What did you and Remus talk about?" she asked, clutching her new books to her chest as they walked back to the school. "Did he say anything about the Shrieking Shack?"

"No," Draco said, shaking his head. "I suppose that's the best place for me during the full moon though."

"It's where he changed while at Hogwarts," Hermione told him. She glanced at him and pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders at a cold breeze. "I'm not too sure your wolf would appreciate his scent, but it is the safest option even with the Wolfsbane potion."

Just like she'd expected, his nose wrinkled at the thought of being around another wolf's scent during his transformation, but he didn't snap at her. Instead, he nodded in agreement and asked what she'd need to brew the potion for him in the future. Her steps faltered and she blinked up at him.

"Well, I'll have to create a lab in our dorm," she said. She couldn't brew the potion in the potions lab where Amycus Carrow was sure to find it. "Headmaster Snape has offered his entire potions supply, but I looked through it and it won't be enough. I'll need a little more of each ingredient and that just covers until the end of school, not summer or the months following."

"I should have some supplies in my lab at the Manor," Draco said softly. He stared straight ahead and Hermione frowned. She didn't want him to return to the Manor when it was full of Death Eaters, but they didn't have many other options with how limited potion supplies were these days. It was a miracle Snape had offered his supply up.

"I won't need it until later," Hermione said. He wouldn't have to get it immediately and could wait until at least after his first full moon. "When is it? The full moon?"

"Three days," Draco replied. He tensed as a breeze blew around them and looked away from her. "Lupin was adamant I lock myself away well before then."

"Surely you can wait until after classes," Hermione said. Draco shook his head. It was early November and the moon would likely rise late in the afternoon. To not prepare ahead of time was too risky.

"I'll leave at breakfast," he told her, leaving no room for argument.

* * *

Draco stayed very far from Hermione after their visit to Hogsmeade. He warded his room and stayed tucked inside except to go to classes and meals. Hermione tried not to take it personally, but when Blaise arrived at their dorm, confused and saying Draco had told him to accompany her, it was difficult.

The fact that Draco had told Blaise about the attack did not surprise her. Quite the opposite actually. She was surprised Blaise hadn't been around more often. If Blaise felt less of his friend for no longer being a Pureblood, Hermione could not tell and would have been surprised.

When Wednesday came around, Draco disappeared after breakfast and she found Blaise at her side almost constantly. He sat beside her in potions and met her outside any class they didn't share. It wasn't until after dinner when he found her outside the Great Hall that she knew something was up.

"What, Blaise?" she asked, adjusting her book bag strap on her shoulder.

A few students pushed past her, shoving her into the wall despite the empty hallway around them. Blaise scowled at them and sent a stinging hex at one of the retreating students. He yelped and glared back at them, but when Blaise raised his wand again, they continued down the hall without a problem. Once they were gone, Blaise turned his attention back to Hermione.

"What?" he asked, stuffing his wand back into his robes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Blaise frowned at her and Hermione gave him a look. "You've been following me all day."

"Maybe Draco told me to," he said. Hermione snorted and Blaise glared at her. "What? It's not that unbelievable."

"No, but I know that's not it," she replied. Blaise continued to scowl at her, but Hermione didn't let up. She just stared at him until he stopped glaring at her and frowned at the ground.

"He's on his own," he said quietly, "I know he's dangerous to be around right now, but I still can't help but feel like I've left him to deal with it on his own. And that's not what we do, Granger, we don't leave each other to fend for ourselves."

The doors to the Great Hall opened again and even if it was just a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw that walked out, Hermione knew they shouldn't be talking about Draco in the open.

"It's alright, Blaise," she sighed, grabbing his arm and steering him in the direction of the head's dormitory. "He knows you didn't leave him and you really shouldn't beat yourself up about it."

"I know, but I am," Blaise said.

He opened his mouth to continue but stopped when a group of younger students came around the corner. Hermione recognised two of them from the DA and smiled. They smiled back and Blaise gave her the most confused look as the four students passed.

"How come you know so many younger students?" Blaise asked, spinning around so he could walk backwards and talk to her. "I don't know any of the second or third years, let alone the first years. Do you run some sort of underground, baby tutoring club?"

"Yes, Blaise," Hermione said drily. Clearly that was the only reasonable explanation. "Now that we've established that," she said, turning him back around so he wouldn't trip as they walked up the stairs. "If you're really worried about Draco and want to help him, I think I can help you."

"Yeah?" Blaise asked, looking at her hopefully. Hermione nodded but made him wait until they were both locked inside the head's dorm before she told him anything else.

"Headmaster Snape refuses to brew the Wolfsbane potion for Draco," she said. Blaise's eyes narrowed and he glared at the door as if it was Snape. Not that she could ever tell Blaise, but she knew why Snape couldn't do it. Even if he was with the Order, he had to act and represent Voldemort's forces and no self-respecting Death Eater would brew a potion for a werewolf. Blaise couldn't know this though, so instead, she said, "He's given me his full potion supply to brew the potion for Draco here in the dorm and I'm sure I could use your help."

"Granger, you're better at potions than me," Blaise said, eyeing her. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but I'll need someone to snatch extra supplies when I run low," she told him. While Blaise's family was currently neutral about the War, she knew he'd be able to get extra supplies without much question. "Draco's offered his own ingredients, but even then, it will only be enough to get through summer. With a little luck, the War will be over by then and I'll have unlimited access to the ingredients, but until then, I could use some help."

"My mother stores several bezoars in our Manor," Blaise offered after a moment of silence. "There's probably six? Seven? I can get them during the holiday."

Hermione beamed. Bezoars were hard to get even before the War and were now impossible to get ahold of. For Blaise to offer a two years supply of them seemed too good to be true.

"That would be perfect!" she exclaimed, hugging him tightly before he could react.

As she pulled away, she took him up to her room where she had already set up her cauldron. She was planning on starting the potion that night as it needed to brew under the full moon. All the ingredients were ready and as soon as the moon appeared above the horizon, she'd begin the potion.


	17. Chapter 17

Hermione was very happy to fall asleep in the common room, curled up in Draco's arms. Every now and then, he would sigh contentedly and Hermione couldn't help but smile. Hermione was content when she finally did fall asleep but wondered if Draco would return to avoiding her or finally decide to talk to her.

She got the answer the next morning when she walked out of the bathroom. Draco had left three very visible hickey marks on her neck that she had to cover with a concealment charm. As soon as she'd walked into the common room, he'd pulled her to his chest and ran his fingers over where the marks would have been.

"You covered them up," he said, frowning at her. His fingers tickled her neck and Hermione shied away from them, smiling up at him even when he continued to frown.

"The whole school doesn't need to see them, Draco," she said. His frown deepened so Hermione stretched up to kiss him briefly. He immediately locked his arms around her so she couldn't pull away quickly and she gave him a look.

"I won't see you in first block," he told her as if that would explain his behavior. "I deserve more than that."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. She summoned her book bag from upstairs and grabbed Draco's hand, interlocking their fingers.

"If you promise to talk to me about this later," she said, motioning between them, "Then I'll kiss you more."

Draco's eyes flashed to silver for a moment, something they had done a lot of last night, but he nodded. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head and Hermione smiled.

"I'll see you in class," she promised. She left the dorm room for the Great Hall, leaving Draco to get ready on his own.

Ginny was, of course, waiting for her at the Gryffindor table with Neville. They didn't talk as they ate; instead, they listened to Neville talk about a plant he had read about recently and how he thought it might be a suitable replacement for cornish pixies in some potions.

"It grows in the same area the pixies live, but can be used without really changing the potion!" he said excitedly. Hermione smiled as she took a drink of her orange juice. Neville continued until they had to leave for their first class, but by then Hermione was sure he had to have run out of things to say.

The day went by quickly and before Hermione knew it, she was leaving the Great Hall after dinner. She'd seen Draco often that day both during and between classes, but he seemed to have disappeared right before dinner. She hadn't thought much of it until she heard someone say his name around the corner.

Part of her didn't want to spy, but the other part of her was too curious to keep going. She quickly tiptoed to the corner of the hallway and pressed her back against the stone wall. They were far enough from the Great Hall not to be seen or heard, but every time the door opened, Hermione struggled to hear what was being said just a few meters away.

"—have disappointed the Dark Lord," a familiar voice sneered. There was a thud and Hermione threw a hand over her mouth to stop her gasp.

"You could have killed someone!" Draco hissed back, "Werewolves in Hogwarts? That was careless."

"No, they were only there for you," a second voice hissed. Hermione's hand dropped from her mouth slowly as she frowned. The werewolves had been sent by someone? To attack Draco specifically?

"You shouldn't have let a mudblood get in your head, Draco," the first voice said. There was some shuffling and someone—probably Draco, if Hermione had to guess—grunted. "You're lucky your father tried to advocate for you or the Dark Lord would have killed you."

"That would have been an act of mercy," Draco snarled back.

Hermione held her book bag tighter, wondering if she should call for Professor McGonagall or simply immobilise Draco's two attackers on her own. They had obviously been directly involved in the werewolf attack and there was no way Hermione could just let them go.

Before she had fully made up her mind, however, someone wrapped their arm around her chest from behind and muttered a silencing spell. Hermione had opened her mouth to scream before, but her shout was silent as she struggled against whoever had grabbed her.

"Easy, Granger," her attacker said, tightening his hold on her. Hermione fumed and threw her head back to connect with the person's chin. "Fuck!"

Hermione twisted out of his arms, stumbling into the hallway and holding out her wand when she recognised Adrian Pucey. He rubbed his chin as he glared at her, but movement to her left caught her attention. She glanced over and almost dropped her wand in surprise when she saw Professors Alecto and Amycus Carrow looming over Draco while Montague pinned him to the wall. Seeing how little Draco was moving, Hermione guessed they had also immobilised him. Pretty strongly too, since werewolves tended to be harder to trap than wizards.

Still silenced, Hermione couldn't stutter out an excuse as they all turned to look at her.

"I knew it would turn up," Alecto sneered as she walked towards Hermione. Hermione wordlessly flicked her wand out of her hand and Professor Alecto glared.

Before Hermione could immobilise her as well, Amycus had his wand pointed at her and had lazily drawled out, " _Crucio_."

Hermione couldn't scream as the pain hit her like a wall. Her eyes closed in pain as she let out silent screams and dropped to the floor. As pain that felt like a thousand knives cutting into her covered her body, she writhed on the floor silently. Her muscles constricted in on themselves and Hermione thought she would be crushed before it ended. Just as suddenly as it had come, though, the pain disappeared.

Panting, Hermione looked up from the floor to see both Montague and Pucey on the floor, and Alecto frozen in place. Draco was dueling furiously with Amycus, his eyes glittering silver. Neither had noticed Hermione slowly sitting up. Weakly, Hermione pointed her wand at Amycus and soundlessly immobilised him.

Draco continued sending curses at Amycus even though he could no longer move and didn't stop until Hermione managed to get his attention.

"Hermione," he gasped, leaving the Carrows and dropping down in front of her. He removed the silencing spell on her and gathered her in his arms. His eyes flickered between silver and grey as he glanced from her to the Carrows, debating with himself over what to do.

"Just leave them, Draco," Hermione murmured, closing her eyes tiredly. Draco shook her and she inhaled sharply as pain coursed through her body. "Stop," she hissed, grabbing his bicep to get his attention.

"Don't pass out," he said firmly. Hermione smiled weakly at him but kept her eyes open as he rushed them both back to their dorm. He didn't stop until he'd locked the door with several locking spells and settled her on the couch. "How do you feel?" he asked, crouching beside the couch.

"Tired," she answered. She was already feeling a little better than right after the curse, but her body was sore and exhausted.

"Yeah, that's normal," Draco told her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and brushed her hair out of her face. He conjured a glass of water and helped her sit up so she could drink it. "Once you're done with this, I'll get you a pain relief potion."

"There are some vials in the top drawer of my dresser," Hermione said. Draco nodded but didn't leave her side while she finished the glass of water.

As soon as the water was gone, Draco scooped her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. He settled her on the plush bed then darted across the hall to her room to find the potion. A moment later he returned and handed the potion to Hermione. Hermione drank the potion then laid down in Draco's bed. She'd seen the silver in his eyes and knew there was no way he would let her go to her own room; not after the Carrows had pulled a stunt like that.

"Draco?" she asked as he paced at the foot of the bed. He stopped abruptly and looked up at her. She didn't miss the way his eyes faded from an angry silver back to their usual grey. "Come here," she said, reaching a hand towards him.

Draco didn't hesitate to move to her side and sit on the edge of the bed. He grabbed hold of her hand, almost subconsciously, and Hermione smiled up at him.

"I'm okay," she told him. Draco glared at her and shook his head. "Yes, I am," she insisted. She sat up just to prove him wrong and Draco's face went from annoyed to worried in a split second.

"You should lay back down," Draco said, gently trying to push her back down. Hermione brushed him off and patted the bed beside her. Begrudgingly, Draco crawled over the bed so he was sitting at the head of the bed beside her.

"I'm just a little sore, Draco," Hermione said, grabbing his hand as a wave of pain moved from her head to her toes. "I'll be fine in the morning, but you can't be rash and try to hunt down the Carrows, Pucey, and Montague."

"Why not?" Draco snapped. Hermione rubbed his hand soothingly as his eyes flashed for a second.

"It's foolish and you'll just make things worse," Hermione replied. She glanced up at Draco to see him scowling at the wall. Reaching up, she pulled his face to look at her and smiled at him when his scowl dropped. "The best thing you can do is just stay by me if you really want to keep them from hurting me. Chasing them down will only make them want to attack me more."

Draco looked conflicted at her words, but he must have realised she was right because he nodded. He wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her against his side. Hermione was more than willing to comply.

Nevertheless, Hermione could see that Draco was still thinking about what had happened in the hall and she tried to think of something to distract him.

"Draco?" she asked. She turned her head to look up at him and was a little surprised to find he was already looking at her. "Tell me what you and Remus talked about. Does it have to do with—" lacking the right words, Hermione just gestured between them.

Draco nodded but didn't say anything. If she had to pull the answers out of him, she was going to get very annoyed. She sighed and Draco ran his hand down her arm, something she was surprised to discover was actually rather soothing.

"Are you going to tell me?" she asked, looking away from him. "Or do I have to play twenty question—"

"You are my wolf's mate."


	18. Chapter 18

It had taken several minutes and a better explanation for Hermione to fully process what Draco had said. When she froze after he'd said she was his mate, he'd rushed to tell her what Remus had told him and why they'd come to that conclusion. He stumbled over his words slightly when he started to tell her how the wolf felt, but with a red face, he managed to tell her more or less what the wolf thought whenever she was around. Her face heated up when his eyes turned silver partway through the explanation and she knew the wolf was clearly enjoying telling her how badly he wanted to take her whenever he saw her.

There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to let Draco's wolf do what he wanted, but the realistic part of her knew better than to test it. Based on what Draco had told her, he already had little control when he kissed her. She didn't need to make it harder on him.

When Draco finished explaining, the room went silent. Draco stared straight ahead at the wall, refusing to look at her even when Hermione kissed his collar.

"Draco?" she hummed. Draco glanced at her and when she gave him a small smile, he didn't look away.

"I don't want you to do this because you think you have to," he said. He didn't pull away from her, but he certainly didn't relax against her.

Hermione looked up at him and frowned. Is that what he thought she was doing? That would explain why he seemed so reluctant to be around her sometimes. It was just like him to try and leave if he felt like he was forcing her into something.

"Draco, that's not why I'm here," she told him. She shifted on the bed so she was facing him and ignored the way her body ached at the movement. Draco's hand shot out to her side and she smiled at him. "Believe it or not, I may actually feel the same way about you. Wolf or not, I want this too," she said, reaching up to gently brush a stray hair off his forehead. "You're my best friend, but you can't tell Harry or Ron that because they'll throw a fit. Is it really that hard to believe I could want this too?"

"I'm not a safe choice," Draco said. Hermione rolled her eyes, but he squeezed her waist to get her attention. "My family is full of Death Eaters and I'm one too. Now I'm a werewolf, as if I wasn't a big enough threat."

"I happen to have sought out threats since first year," Hermione reminded him. Draco's eyes narrowed as he took a moment to remember just what sort of problems Hermione had gotten into since attending Hogwarts. "The point is," Hermione said, purposely interrupting his thoughts, "I want this too, so you should stop bullying yourself into leaving me behind. I'm here whether you like it or not."

Draco smiled and gently pulled her to his chest. It was a bit of a strange position as she'd been kneeling adjacent to him, but she didn't pull away. As soon as Draco let her go, though, she pulled him down so he was lying on the bed beside her and easy to curl around. Her body was still sore and part of her worried about tomorrow's lesson with the DA, but that would be a problem for the morning. At the moment, she was too busy enjoying Draco's warmth and the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms.

* * *

Hermione discovered much too late in the morning that Draco's possessiveness was going to cause a problem when it came to leaving for the DA. He'd had the house elves send them breakfast while she showered as an excuse not to go to the Great Hall ("I'll slit their throats if I see their faces," he said as another excuse). When Hermione tried to leave the dorm under the pretense of meeting with Ginny, Draco wouldn't let her go.

"Draco, I have to go, okay?" she said, trying to slip out of his arms. Draco wasn't having it and reached for her hand quickly.

"They're still out there, Hermione," he said, glancing at the door as if mentioning their names might bring them to the dorm. "Can't Weaslette come here?"

And such went the debate for almost half an hour before Hermione knew they would get nowhere if they continued. Draco's eyes had turned silver at some point during the conversation which told Hermione this was more of a wolf problem than a Draco problem.

It may have been only a second, but Hermione felt like the decision took longer to make. While Draco argued the Carrows could attack her in the hallway again, Hermione quickly debated whether she should tell him about the DA. He'd never given her reason to not trust him before and despite being a marked Death Eater, Hermione could see it was killing him.

"—if they know you're with Ginny and they still try—"

"I'm not actually seeing Ginny!" Hermione blurted out. Draco stopped in the middle of his sentence and Hermione reached for his hand. "I'm not actually going to see Ginny, but before you get upset—don't do that," Hermione said, glaring at him when his eyes turned silver. "I have a perfectly valid reason for not telling you but before I do, I need you to sign a parchment for me, okay?"

Draco looked at her skeptically as she conjured the DA's charmed parchment for Draco to sign. A quill appeared beside the parchment and Draco took it. He glanced at her again before hesitantly signing the parchment. As he stepped back, the ink glowed then sank into the parchment before disappearing entirely. Hermione sent the parchment back to its hiding place and took Draco's hands.

"During the time Umbridge was here, Harry started his own defense class," she started, breathing deeply. "We named it Dumbledore's Army, the DA for short, and on weekends, me, Ginny, Luna, and Neville teach the younger students defense spells they aren't learning from the Carrows."

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione plowed on before he could.

"The parchment is charmed so you can't tell a soul about it," she said. She didn't tell him all the spells she'd put on it, but she did mention that if he tried to tell a professor or other adult, he'd immediately forget everything about it. "The other spells are less extreme, but I'm not going to tell you what they are. You know why I couldn't tell you before, right? I just—Ginny will kill me now that you know, but I think I can persuade her to listen. Just promise me this wasn't a mistake, telling you about the DA."

"It wasn't," Draco promised, squeezing her hands tightly. He smiled at her and pressed a kiss to her cheek before saying, "I'm jealous, actually, that you've been doing something to help the younger students while I've been useless as a Head Boy. If there's any way I can help, I want to."

Hermione wasn't sure that was really the best idea considering everyone else in the DA thought Draco was a Death Eater. She knew Ginny would believe her as she'd often lamented about how Draco was being forced into it against his will, but the others were a different story. It was unlikely they'd trust him.

"You can't come with me," she told him. Draco attempted to argue, but she shook her head. "It's already suspicious to have so many kids meeting on the seventh floor. The Carrows are clearly keeping an eye on you."

"Only because they were in charge of sending the wolves at me," Draco grumbled. Hermione nodded as the conversation she'd overheard the night before replayed in her head. "They'll watch you now too, closer than ever. They saw us hugging the night I left with Snape and think I'm attempting to change sides. Of course, they're not wrong but I hate that it's made you even more of a target."

"I'll watch my back," Hermione assured him. Draco still looked too uncomfortable to let her leave, but she knew time was passing quickly and she needed to meet in the Room of Requirement soon. "I promise I'll be okay. I'll have Ginny and Neville walk back with me and if anything happens, they're sure to come here."

"I'll be worried until you return," Draco said. Hermione gave him a grim smile and bit back a comment about how she wasn't going to war. Instead, she kissed his cheek and told him to go find Blaise instead.

"He really was worried about you the other night," she said before slipping out of the dorm and hurrying off to the DA.


	19. Chapter 19

The days continued on at an almost dreadfully slow pace. The Carrows bullied the students in classes and Draco broke several quills in frustration, but nothing changed. He was aware of eyes following him more often now. Montague and Pucey were usually right around the corner, but Hermione hexed them bad enough one evening they kept their distance. Usually, Draco would have been proud of her for something like that and glad for the distance, but he was wary it meant she'd just made herself a larger target.

Despite knowing about the DA now, Draco couldn't help in any way. Hermione said she'd told Ginny and she had not reacted as well as expected. The two hadn't spoken for two days and even after that, Ginny felt uncomfortable including Draco in the lessons. So while Hermione left on Saturdays to teach kids how to defend themselves for an upcoming war, Draco asked his mother for advanced spell books to share with Hermione.

On his second full moon, Draco slept the entire day after. He'd been summoned by the Dark Lord two hours before the full moon and knew it wasn't a coincidence. Thanks to the Wolfsbane potion Hermione had brewed and forced him to take the week prior, he was in a stable mind during the attack. He refused to talk about it afterward though.

The Death Eaters were called away more and more frequently and Draco found it hard to not participate. The Dark Lord tasked him to torture a half-blood wizard who had attempted to foil a raid. As Draco had been the one to uncover him (on accident), he'd been granted the privilege of torturing the poor man. He couldn't sleep for days after and even though he hardly told Hermione what had happened, she seemed to understand.

When Christmas break finally came up, Draco was dreading it. The full moon would happen the day after break began, but he was being forced to return to the Manor. Hermione was planning on remaining at Hogwarts and swore she'd be okay. It was safer for her there than anywhere else.

"Hardly anyone is staying at the castle," Hermione said, wearing Draco's quidditch jersey the morning he had to leave. "I'll stay in the dorm and keep in touch with Professor McGonagall."

"Write to me if anything happens, okay?" Draco said. His wolf was angry at him for even considering leaving, but he knew he had to. If he didn't, the Dark Lord was sure to punish him for disobedience.

"Okay," Hermione said with a nod.

Draco wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed her firmly. He cupped her face gently, savoring the taste of her lips and the feel of her pressed up against him. It would be over two weeks before he saw her again.

"Go," she whispered when he pulled away.

Draco nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead before levitating his trunk and hurrying out of the dorm. If he stopped to think, he'd surely rush back into the dorm and never leave. Unfortunately, he managed to walk all the way to the train without stopping and soon found himself on the trip back home.

As expected, no one greeted him at King's Cross Station. He wasn't upset by it though and quickly apparated to just outside the Manor gates. The ley lines would have allowed him to apparate to the doorstep, but he wanted to take the walk before he would see his parents.

Aunt Bellatrix was the one who answered the door when he knocked, much to his horror.

"Draco!" she cooed, holding out her arms. Draco stepped forward and hugged her shortly, closing the front door behind him. Aunt Bella looped her arm through his and led him further into the house. "I knew you'd be back for the holidays. The Dark Lord has many wondrous plans you're sure to enjoy."

"Naturally," Draco replied. He kissed her cheek and said, "Forgive me, but I must unpack and wash up. I will see you shortly."

He separated from her to hurry up to his room, hardly remembering not to let the door slam. As soon as he was safe in his room, he locked the door securely and let his trunk fall to the ground. In a rushed fit, he pulled off his robes and stumbled into the washroom where Dilly had already drawn him a bath.

The water was still scalding hot when he slipped into the tub and while he hissed, he enjoyed the feeling. He took his time washing, wondering who else would be joining them for dinner aside from Aunt Bella and—inevitably—Uncle Rabastan. Why he thought he wouldn't encounter them, he wasn't sure. They always visited for the holidays and with the Dark Lord regularly taking up residence at the manor, it really should not have been a surprise.

When Draco finally did clamber out of the tub, his fingers were pruny and he could smell dinner cooking. He took his time dressing and styling his hair before slowing walking down the stairs to find his parents. His mother would certainly not be in the west wing as that was where the Dark Lord now stayed, so he wandered into the library and was thrilled to find her sitting in her usual seat.

At the sound of the door opening, she looked up sharply. She smiled at Draco and stood up to greet him, pressing warm kisses to his cheeks and hugging him.

"Bella said you'd arrived," she said, stepping back to look him over.

"I apologise for the delay," he said. His mother gave him a knowing look and he nodded. "Where's father? His study?"

"As always," his mother replied. Draco made a mental note to avoid that area of the house in order to put off seeing his father as long as possible. "Your father—He said something about you and—Well, I can't say I'm not worried, Draco. I heard there were werewolves at Hogwarts."

It was then Draco realised he'd never told his mother what had happened. Of course, he hadn't told anyone really, but it made sense his father knew.

"Yes," he said softly, kissing her hand to reassure her. "I'm afraid I may have upset the Dark Lord greatly and paid the price."

His mother gasped and clutched his hand. Gingerly, she stepped forward and brushed his cheek softly with her cool fingers. Draco resisted the urge to lean into her comforting touch.

"Oh, my dear Draco," she whispered. Draco closed his eyes for a moment, allowing himself to feel upset as well before remembering his place.

"I've been alright," he assured her. With Death Eaters roaming the halls and ears everywhere, he couldn't tell her Hermione had been brewing him a Wolfsbane potion. "I'm alright at Hogwarts."

"Good," she said. She pulled her hand away from his face and smiled warmly at him. "You haven't written much."

"The Dark Lord and my studies have been keeping me busy, though I do wish I could write more often," Draco told her. She nodded and rested her hand on the crook of his elbow as he led her out of the library. "I'm here now, though. I will talk to you whenever you wish."

"Perfect," his mother said happily. She dropped her head onto his shoulder for just a moment then steered him toward the garden. "I want to show you my garden. It's grown so much since you've last seen it."

Draco just smiled and allowed her to walk him through the garden, listening as she spoke about her week and how she often worried about him and his father. The garden still wasn't a safe place to talk, but it was more comfortable to be in than the manor and Draco appreciated the change of scenery. However, as he smelled a rose his mother swore would never die, he couldn't help but think back to Hermione at Hogwarts.


	20. Chapter 20

Hermione kept her word to Draco. She stayed in the dorm and never left. There was really no need as most everyone had gone home for the holiday and the halls of Hogwarts weren't safe for anyone. Even with the Carrows supposedly gone, Hermione didn't trust them anymore.

She wrote to Ginny often, using their own code to ask about the Order and her family. No one had heard from Harry or Ron since they'd left and while Hermione was worried, she knew this was the safest option. As badly as she wanted to write them, she didn't dare risk it in case the owl was tracked and they were discovered.

Unfortunately, she found she had to break her promises when early one morning, an owl delivered a letter from Harry asking for her help. It was two days after Christmas and she still had a week of holiday break. She could easily assist them with a Horcrux and be back before classes resumed.

As she stuffed clothes and supplies into a bag, parts of Harry's letter flashed through her mind.

_We're so close to done now, Hermione. I'm pretty sure there's only one or two more, but we're at a loss and could really use your help._

Ron would be stopping by the Burrow at precisely noon that day. He'd leave after a minute but if she wanted to join them, she was welcome too. While she had an hour to get there, she'd have to walk almost half an hour into Hogsmeade before she could safely apparate. And that was assuming she didn't run into trouble between here and there.

With her wand in hand and a disillusionment charm cast on herself, she walked as calmly as she could from the Head's dormitory out of the castle. The professors would all be busy with their own tasks, but Hermione couldn't trust them to not pose a problem if she was spotted.

Luckily, she made it all the way out of Hogwarts without a problem. It took everything in her not to sprint to Hogsmeade and even then, she kept up an awkward bit of a walk-jog. She absolutely would not miss her chance to meet up with Ron and join them on their hunt and time was running out.

Rosmerta called out to her as she passed, but Hermione could hardly be bothered to wave. She almost asked to use her Floo, but she knew they were being heavily monitored. If the Ministry found out she was leaving Hogwarts after electing to stay the full break, they'd certainly wrangle her in and take her in for questioning.

When she finally reached the apparation line, panting and heart racing, she had five minutes before Ron would arrive at the Burrow. She took a deep breath and focused on the Burrow before raising her wand and apparating away.

"Oh my!"

Hermione jumped as Molly dropped a pan in shock. The only others in the house were Ginny, Arthur, and the twins. When they realised it was Hermione who had appeared in their house, they all rushed to hug her.

"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked as they all stepped away. "I thought you were staying at Hogwarts."

"I was—I am," she said quickly, glancing at a clock. Four minutes. "Harry and Ron need my help and Ron is apparating here at noon. I'll be back when classes start, but I need to join them."

"Ron's coming here?" Molly exclaimed, looking close to tears at the thought. Hermione nodded.

"Only for a minute," she said, feeling bad that Ron would be rushed away from his family. "It's dangerous for them, you see, and I'm surprised they even sent an owl. They're so close to finding the last—"

A loud pop interrupted her and they all turned to see Ron who was two minutes early. The room was silent for only a second before everyone was rushing to hug him tightly. He laughed at them all and Molly cried, hugging Ron the longest.

"I'm here to get Hermione, Mum," he said, patting her back and glancing at Hermione. "We kind of need her help."

"So we've heard," Arthur said. Molly stepped back and grabbed hold of Arthur's hand tightly. "Are you and Harry alright?"

"Yeah," Ron promised, smiling at them all. "We're so close, Dad. Just a few more Horcruxes and I'm sure Hermione can find them."

The house was silent as they all remembered Ron would soon be leaving again, taking Hermione with him this time.

"Well, you'd best be off," Arthur said, smiling at them both. "Tell Harry hello."

"Will do, Dad," Ron promised. He took Hermione's hand and smiled one last time at his family. "See you soon," he said before apparating away and taking Hermione with him.

The first thing Hermione saw when they landed was that they were deep in a forest. There was a tent in front of her and she could feel the wards surrounding them, something she was incredibly proud of her boys for doing. The second, and more important, thing she noticed was Harry.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, running forward and hugging him tightly. Harry chuckled and hugged her back. "I've been so worried about you both. How has the hunt been? Have you been successful?"

"Very," Harry told her. He and Ron took her into the tent and explained all that they'd found so far. Just like Hermione had suggested before they'd left that summer, they had hunted down objects from the founders of Hogwarts. They'd destroyed a locket before going to get Hermione and felt certain they were close to finding another one. "We only have Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw left."

"Do you know where they are?" Hermione asked. Harry and Ron shared a look and Hermione knew the answer. "You don't."

"No, unfortunately," Harry answered. He'd heard about Ravenclaw's diadem from a drunk in a bar but had nothing for Hufflepuff. "The diadem is at Hogwarts since nobody's seen it in centuries. It's the last place it was seen, so I was hoping you could destroy it when you return."

"Of course," Hermione promised. She'd have to do much more snooping than she felt was safe, but she'd do it if it could help Ron and Harry. "Have you heard anything about Voldemort? I doubt—"

At Voldemort's name, both Ron and Harry rushed to shush her. Ron covered her mouth and Harry jumped to his feet, but it was too late.

"You can't say his name anymore," Ron hissed at her while Harry rushed to grab his wand. "It's taboo now. Snatchers come for anyone who utters it and now you've doomed us."

"Don't be silly," Hermione grumbled, shoving his hand away from her face. She followed Harry out of the tent. "You've set up wards. We should be fine."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Harry told her. "Quick, take down the tent and—"

Before he could finish, several pops of apparation sounded in front of them and a group of dirty looking men appeared. Hermione's eyes widened and her hand shot out instinctively to grab either Harry or Ron, whoever was closest.

"Run," Ron whispered. All three of them turned and raced through the forest, ignoring the shouts behind them as the Snatchers spotted them.

Hermione felt something wrap around her legs and a second later she was tumbling to the ground. Ron and Harry fell beside her and as Harry looked at her worriedly, Hermione moved quickly. The stinging hex hit Harry squarely in the face and his face swelled greatly before the Snatchers immobilised them and hauled them to their feet.

"Hey, this one kind of looks like 'Arry Potta," one of the Snatchers said, looking closely at Harry. Hermione refused to glance nervously at Ron as the other Snatchers looked at Harry too.

"Don't be daft," a second Snatcher exclaimed. "'Arry Potter doesn't look like that."

"Well I say 'e does," said the first Snatcher. Two other Snatchers looked at Harry and then the first Snatcher. "In fact, I'd betcha ten galleons it's him."

"What say you, Greyback?" the second Snatcher said.

Hermione's blood froze as the fifth Snatcher turned around and she was suddenly face to face with Fenrir Greyback. She knew for a fact the full moon had been a week ago, but his teeth were sharp and he looked to be half wolf. His eyes lingered on Harry for only a second before his attention moved to her. He frowned and stepped closer until he was sniffing her hair.

"This is certainly Potter's mudblood," he snarled. Spit hit Hermione's face and he grinned, glancing at Ron. "And that's a Weasley."

"It's 'im then, innit?" the first Snatcher said happily. "It's 'Arry Potta!"

Greyback hummed and eyed Hermione again, trailing a finger from her jaw to her shoulder.

"We'll certainly get no answers out here," Greyback said. He glanced back at his group and grinned wickedly. "The Malfoy boy is home for the holidays, however, and he would know."

Before Hermione could fully dread what that would mean, the Snatchers were apparating them all and she was dropped in front of a tall iron gate with the Malfoy crest. As she was forced to her feet and dragged forward by Greyback himself, her only thought was that Draco was going to be furious.


	21. Chapter 21

Draco was in the library when his Aunt Bellatrix shrieked happily downstairs and interrupted his peace. He scowled at the book and attempted to continue reading, but was interrupted again by his mother entering the library with a worried look.

"Draco, you're needed in the drawing room," she said. Draco stood and moved to pass her, but she put a hand on his chest to stop him. "Greyback's caught Harry Potter and his friends. They need you to identify him for certain though."

Friends? Potter was friends with two people in this world and one of them was still at Hogwarts. Whyever would his mother assume it was Potter's friends and not some random traveler? Whatever the reason, Draco didn't take his time finding the drawing room like he usually did.

As soon as he'd reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped in his tracks. He could smell her. There was no mistaking the familiar scent he loved and that sent his wolf wild. She was in the manor. Hermione was one of the friends his mother had mentioned and she was currently in the manor.

Draco threw open the drawing room doors in an astounding display of nonverbal, wandless magic. Just like he'd feared, Hermione was standing alongside Harry Potter and Weasel. Greyback was at her back and looked particularly excited to be there. Draco swallowed the growl in his throat and glared at Greyback. Rather than ignore Draco like he'd expected, Greyback grinned liked a fool and stepped even closer to Hermione. Draco didn't keep back the growl this time.

"Draco!" Aunt Bella exclaimed. He didn't look away from Greyback. "Greyback says he might have Harry Potter and friends here. Would you please confirm it so I don't look a fool in front of the Dark Lord?"

Aunt Bella pulled Draco over to where the three were standing and Draco saw red for a moment when he smelled Greyback's scent mingled with Hermione’s. Behind Weasel, a Snatcher took a step back, but Greyback didn't move.

"Get the filth out of here," Draco demanded, glaring at Greyback and struggling not to lash out at him. "Their smell is overwhelming."

Aunt Bella shooed out the Snatchers, but Greyback stayed. He did, however, take a step back.

In front of Draco stood Ron Weasley without a doubt and while Draco may have given him up happily, he knew what it would mean for the other two. Any confirmation of identity would hurt them all and he would not do it. Not even if Hermione hadn't been standing there.

"Draco?" Aunt Bella asked. "Identify at least the Mudblood. It's Potter's, right?" Draco snarled at her and she glared in return. "I will curse you, boy."

"I will do worse if you speak of her like that," he threatened. Aunt Bella looked at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes and glancing behind him to where the three stood.

"This is the Mudblood then?" she asked. Draco snarled again and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, how interesting. Amycus told me it was bad, but I didn't think it was Potter's Mudblood!"

She laughed maniacally and Draco's fingers twitched around his wand. Killing her was sure to bring more problems, but damn if he didn't want to.

"Take the other two downstairs, Draco darling," Aunt Bella laughed. Draco didn't move and her laughter died away. "Take Potter and the Weasley downstairs," she ordered.

"No," he refused. Aunt Bella leveled her wand at him, but Draco had his out before she could think of a curse. "Remove Greyback from the room or I will slit his throat."

It was undoubtedly the most honest thing he'd said since arriving at the manor for break. His wolf was on the edge of gaining control and if Bellatrix said one more thing about Hermione, he'd willingly let go. Greyback would die and Draco was beginning to long for it.

"Go ahead," Bella replied lazily, gesturing toward Greyback with her wand. "I certainly don't need him. Let me see just how far you're willing to go for your little Mudblood whore."

Draco could have held onto his self control for a little while longer, but he was done. His vision tunneled and his senses seemed to improve tenfold all in a split second. Greyback was his first target as he threw himself at the other wolf without hesitation. He knew his wand was tucked in his robes, but he couldn't be bothered with it now. Not when he wanted to feel the life drain from Greyback with his own hands.

Unfortunately, Greyback always remained in some sort of semi-wolf state and easily threw Draco into a wall. That didn't stop him from charging the other werewolf again and slashing at his throat with claws that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Greyback snarled as Draco grabbed his throat and squeezed. Draco was on the cusp of snapping Greyback's neck, wanting to prolong the moment just a bit, when he was distracted by a scream. Terrified his aunt had killed Hermione, he dropped Greyback, immobilising him with a spell so powerful it would have knocked out any normal wizard.

As he turned, he found Potter and Weasley attempting to pull Bellatrix off of Hermione. Neither of them used their wands—useless bastards—but they were trying desperately to stop Bellatrix.

Draco was never one for torture, but in that moment, he didn't care. He pointed his wand at his aunt's back and snarled, " _Crucio_."

While she didn't scream, Bellatrix seized and slumped to the side, releasing Hermione. Draco kept his wand on her for several seconds, only stopping when someone shook him roughly.

"We have to go," Harry said. Draco growled at him and gnashed his teeth. Harry stepped back with wide eyes, but that was enough for Draco to lay eyes on Hermione.

Weasel hovered over her nervously and Hermione was gasping in pain. Draco shoved Weasel aside angrily and dropped down to Hermione's side, expecting to see a hole in her chest or a slit down her throat. Instead, only her arm was covered in blood.

"Dra—co," Hermione gasped, her fingers twitching toward him. Draco grabbed her uninjured hand tightly and pulled her onto his lap.

"We need to leave," Harry repeated behind them. Draco twisted around to snarl at him but picked up on the scent of three more werewolves and two Death Eaters.

"Grab on, Potter," he growled instead. Harry nodded quickly and hesitantly grabbed Draco's shoulder. Weasel held onto Harry, scowling at Draco who continued to clutch Hermione tightly. Draco apparated all four of them out of the manor and to a hill sitting well above it.

"Really?" Weasel snapped. Draco wasn't in the mood and Weasel seemed to recognise this as he took a step back.

"You can't apparate out," he explained forcefully. "Get us somewhere safe."

Weasel muttered something to Harry and they both nodded before grabbing onto Hermione's shoulder. She gasped and Draco snarled. Harry moved his hand to Draco's shoulder while Weasel kept his on Hermione's, but before Draco could make him let her go, they were apparating away from the manor.


	22. Chapter 22

Draco didn't know where they'd apparated to, but it was a beach somewhere with very strong wards. He could feel the magic as soon as they'd arrived. Harry released him immediately, but Weasel didn't let go of Hermione.

"Stop touching her, Weasel," Draco hissed, climbing to his feet with Hermione in his arms. "Unless you want me to attack you like Greyback."

Weasel looked annoyed, but let go of Hermione. He led them toward a small cottage nearby, muttering something to Harry that Draco didn't care to listen to. Instead, he focused on Hermione's heartbeats and every time she took a breath. She was still awake but didn't say a word as they rushed to the cottage.

They were almost there when Draco picked up on the scent of another wolf and stopped in his tracks. Both Potter and Weasel glanced back at him, but he refused to move forward.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, stepping toward Draco while Weasel remained where he was.

"There's a werewolf in that house," he said shortly. After Greyback, the last thing he wanted was another werewolf around.

"He's safe," Hermione murmured in his arms. "It's Bill, he's not a full werewolf. He's safe."

"He was attacked by Greyback," Harry explained. Draco's lip curled at the name. "That's probably who you're smelling. He can help Hermione though, I swear it."

Draco glanced down at Hermione who nodded weakly. His wolf hated every step, but he continued to the cottage until a familiar woman answered the door.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed. She called hastily for Bill and the wolf smell became stronger. Soon, a red haired man appeared in the doorframe beside her. "Bring her in," the woman instructed.

Draco followed Potter and Weasel inside while the blonde woman quickly cleared out a spare bedroom for Hermione. She told Draco to lay Hermione on the bed, so he did, immediately sitting beside her and holding her uninjured hand.

"Hermione? How are you feeling?" she asked, leaning over Hermione while Bill brought in a washcloth and some gauze. Hermione just whimpered in response and she nodded as if that's what she'd been expecting.

"Fleur, this is all we have," Bill said. The woman, Fleur, turned around and Draco abruptly remembered her from the Triwizard tournament.

"It will work," Fleur said, taking the supplies from Bill. She glanced at Draco and smiled warmly before leaning over Hermione. "This will hurt, but I must clean it."

As Fleur worked to clean off Hermione's arm, Draco attempted to block out her pained gasps. It took a few minutes to clean Hermione's arm and once it was mostly free of blood, Draco glanced at it.

 _M-U-D-B-L_ was written on her arm so far, but it wasn't finished. Draco could see her skin breaking open to form an O. Hermione gasped loudly, arching her back at the pain. More blood trickled down her arm and Fleur hurried to wipe it away. Another O cut sharply into her arm and Hermione writhed on the bed, screaming at the sharp jerk.

"It's still cutting her," Fleur said, hurriedly covering her arm with the washcloth.

"It's almost done," Draco growled, glaring at her bleeding arm and clutching Hermione's other hand tightly.

Just like he'd expected, a D appeared suddenly and Hermione screamed loudly. Nothing else formed on her arm though and while Draco tried to soothe Hermione, Fleur quickly finished cleaning her arm and began to wrap it.

"How is she doing that?" Harry asked from behind him.

Draco didn't take his eyes off Hermione as he said, "It was a cursed blade."

Hermione squeezed his hand tightly as Fleur tugged on her bandage. Draco turned and glared at her, but Fleur didn't seem to notice or care. Once the bandage was secure, she leaned back and smiled at Hermione.

"I'm afraid that's all we can do for now," she said. She scourgified the washcloth and leaned forward to put it on Hermione's sweaty forehead. "We don't have any pain potions, but Bill will try to brew one quickly."

"Thank you," Hermione whispered, her voice scratchy.

"Of course," Fleur replied. She stood up from the bed and ushered Potter and Weasel out of the room, leaving Draco and Hermione alone.

As badly as Draco wanted to demand answers, he knew she was not in the state of mind for what was sure to be an interrogation. Instead, he carefully laid on the bed beside her and rolled onto his stomach. Not wanting to move Hermione, he curled around her. He threw his arm over her waist and rested his head on her chest. She smelled strongly of sweat and blood, but he could still smell her usual rose perfume underneath.

"Go to sleep, Hermione," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You'll heal faster."

"Don't think I can," she said quietly. Her uninjured arm came up around his back and her fingers tangled in his hair. "I know you're upset and without a pain relief potion, I could really do with a distraction."

"You want me to be upset right now?" Draco asked. He twisted slightly so he could prop himself up on one elbow and lean over her. "Right now? After you've been attacked by my aunt?"

Hermione nodded and Draco frowned. Well, now he wasn't angry. He was certainly confused and worried about why she'd left Hogwarts and how long she'd been gone, but he couldn't be angry. Maybe that was why she'd asked him to get upset now.

"Why did you leave Hogwarts?" he asked quietly, his free hand running up and down her side. "Did you even stay for the holiday?"

"I left this morning," she told him, shying away from his hand when he touched a ticklish spot. "Harry and Ron said they needed my help finding the last few Horcruxes so I apparated to the Burrow at noon to meet them."

"How did Greyback even find you?" Draco whispered. His hand stilled on her side and he could have sworn he smelled Greyback's scent on her for a second.

"You Know Who's name is taboo now," she reminded him. Draco's eyes widened as he realised she probably wouldn't have known that. "I said it on accident and triggered it. When did it become taboo anyway?"

"Only a few days ago," Draco admitted. It had been Greyback's own idea during a Christmas Eve gala at the manor. The Dark Lord had been thrilled with the idea and immediately contacted the Ministry to put it in place. "I should have told you."

"You had no reason to," Hermione told him. Her hand on his neck moved to the back of his head and she smiled. "Your Dark Lord is going to have to try much harder to trap me than a taboo."

Her fingers tugged on the baby hairs at the nape of his neck and Draco was sure she was doing it on purpose. His wolf purred at the touch and Draco leaned closer to her. She smiled a bit more and pulled his head down so she could press her lips to his.

"You don't seem very angry," she murmured, her lips brushing his as she spoke. Draco draped himself over her and without squishing her, he laid on top of her.

"I will be once you're healed," he replied, kissing her again and wrapping his arms around her as best he could.

"Then I'll make sure to never heal," she teased. Draco rolled his eyes and pressed his lips more firmly to hers. Even once she did heal, he probably wouldn't be upset with her. How could he when he was really just glad she was okay?


	23. Chapter 23

Hermione was not allowed to leave the guest room for a full day according to Draco. While she found it irritating, Fleur found it amusing and made sure they both had plenty of food and pain relief potions. The second morning they had been there, Hermione got up before Draco and made her way downstairs just to be sure she'd be able to get up. Her arm still hurt, but the pain relief potion Bill had brewed helped.

"Good to see you're awake, Mione!" Harry said, hugging her tightly as she wandered into the kitchen.

"Finally escaped Malfoy?" Ron asked before taking a bite of his eggs. Hermione gave him a look and Harry sighed.

"Why can't you at least be nice to him, Ron?" Hermione asked. After all, she'd been friends with Draco since first starting at Hogwarts and Ron's continued hatred for him was well past annoying.

"He's a git and I don't trust him," Ron mumbled. Rather than entertain that old idea, Hermione turned to Harry and asked how he'd been.

"Well, I've been thinking about the Horcruxes," he said, shoveling a bite of eggs into his mouth. He chewed quickly as he said, "You Know Who trusts very few people so obviously he wouldn't just hand a Horcrux over to anyone."

"You think he gave it to someone?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded and reminded her how he'd given the ring to someone as well as the locket and the diary. "But Professor Quirrel was a Horcrux, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but I think he was destroyed entirely," Harry replied. "When we were at Malfoy Manor, I had a thought. You Know Who trusts Bellatrix enough to carry out things like hunting me down. That's a lot of trust right there."

"You think she might have a Horcrux," Hermione said. Harry nodded but before they could continue, Draco walked into the kitchen with a scowl. "Good morning," Hermione said. Draco continued to scowl but took the empty seat beside her.

"You left," he grumbled, serving himself a large helping of eggs and potatoes.

"Yes, well, I wanted to eat and you were still sleeping," Hermione told him. Across the table, Ron blanched but Hermione and Draco ignored him. "Draco, how much does You Know Who trust Bellatrix?"

Both Harry and Ron looked at Hermione with differing expressions. Ron looked annoyed that she was consulting Draco while Harry looked worried.

"She's his number one," Draco said, glaring at his plate at the thought. He straightened out suddenly and looked at Hermione. "Why? What are you talking about?"

Very quickly, Hermione explained to Draco just what Ron and Harry had been searching for since summer. She explained what Horcruxes were and their theory about what Voldemort had done. While it was clear he'd made many, they felt certain it was only a few more.

"We've already figured out what two others are likely to be," Harry offered. Draco eyed him curiously, but Harry was unfazed. "Something from Hufflepuff and possibly Ravenclaw's diadem. I've heard the diadem could only be at Hogwarts since no one has seen it in decades, but we're not sure about Hufflepuff."

"We have a theory though," Hermione offered, glancing at Harry. Draco nodded for her to continue. "Bellatrix is his highest trusted follower. It could be possible she's hiding a Horcrux."

"Where?" Draco asked before shoveling two large bites of his potatoes into his mouth.

"Gringotts," Hermione said. While she hadn't actually said it before, she felt certain that's where it would be. Anything of importance could be kept there and a Horcrux seemed like something she would want to keep there.

Draco glanced at her while Ron choked on his food, clearly not having put that together himself. Harry looked shocked as well, but she could tell he understood her reasoning.

"It's the only place she'd ever put something that valuable," Hermione told them. "The only trouble is, we can't get in."

Ron snorted but they were interrupted by Fleur asking if they were still hungry. There was still plenty of food on the table and while Draco had eaten a significant amount, Hermione thought they had enough. Fleur left with a smile and a wave. After a minute, they resumed their conversation.

"We'll never get it," Ron said. Hermione sighed but she knew Ron was probably right. "Gringotts has the best security in the world. We'd have to pass someone off as Bellatrix herself and even then, there are spells that remove magic."

"The goblins will only allow Bellatrix herself in," Draco said. "Even if we could pass someone off as her, no one else would be able to follow."

"Couldn't you?" Hermione asked. Draco frowned. "You're her nephew. We could say something about picking out a family heirloom and you could come with."

"I still have my cloak," Harry offered. Hermione's eyes lit up. It may be a bit of a stretch for it to cover both Harry and Ron, but if they could manage to polyjuice Hermione into Bellatrix, they could figure it out.

"If you have polyjuice on hand, I can get you a strand of Bellatrix's hair," Draco offered. That was better than Hermione had thought and she almost kissed him for it.

"I should have some in my bag," Hermione said. She raced off to the bedroom Fleur had let her rest in and grabbed her bag.

Since she couldn't store potions on her dresser at home, she'd taken to hiding them in her hip bag. She was certain she had polyjuice in there and when a black vial appeared in her hand, she knew she'd been successful.

As she raced back into the kitchen, she was already coming up with a plan for how they would break into Gringotts without getting caught. First, though, she had to send Draco back to Malfoy Manor to retrieve a sample of his aunt's DNA. Unfortunately, that was going to be a much bigger hassle than she had first thought.

* * *

While they waited for Draco to return, Harry filled her in on all that had happened during their hunt. Hermione listened to every word in case there was an idea that could help them in the future. At some point, the boys had found the sword of Gryffindor but it had disappeared after they'd used it. Harry had a running theory it was just a lucky time, but Hermione wasn't too sure. Too many things had been lucky while they were hunting and Hermione didn't want to discount the one way they had to destroy a Horcrux.

Ron was in the middle of explaining how they were planning to continue when Draco apparated into the kitchen. They all jumped and the boys immediately backed away at the sight of Draco's silver eyes. Hermione, however, raced forward to hug him tightly.

"What happened?" she asked, cupping his face and trying to soothe him. "What went wrong?"

"Greyback was there," he growled. His eyes flickered to Harry and Ron and his upper lip curled. He wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her closer as he snarled at the other two.

"It's okay, Draco," Hermione murmured. She ran her hands over his chest in an attempt to distract him. Slowly, he looked away from Ron and Harry and back at her. "Come on, you're back at Shell Cottage and we're all safe."

Ever so slowly, Draco's eyes went back to grey and soon he was just panting heavily. His grip on her waist was still tight, but Hermione didn't mind.

"Did you get a sample of Bellatrix's DNA?" she asked, trying to distract him further. Draco nodded and held up a clump of hair he could have only gotten from ripping directly off Bellatrix's scalp. Hermione decided not to ask, however.

"I also got her wand," he told her, pulling a wand from his robe pocket and handing it to her as well. "She's not easy to surprise, but she wasn't expecting me to come back."

Hermione smiled at him and took a step back so she could uncork the polyjuice potion vial. She could feel everyone watch as she dropped a single strand of Bellatrix's hair into the potion and stuff the cork back in the top. She put both the vial and Bellatrix's wand back into her bag then turned around to look at Harry and Ron.

"I suppose we should come up with a real plan for breaking into Gringotts then," she said. They both glanced at Draco and nodded before joining her at the kitchen table.

It was quite obvious to Hermione that she and Draco would not be returning to Hogwarts. The Carrows were sure to turn her over to Voldemort as soon as she returned and Draco was as good as a blood traitor now. Neither of them were safe and they were more useful hunting down Horcruxes than hiding out from Death Eaters somewhere. Draco, of course, opposed the idea of joining the hunt only because he felt it might be too risky.

"You're welcome to hide out with the Order," Ron replied. Draco glared at him and let Hermione continue speaking.

When she announced she would be taking the potion as Bellatrix, it was clear Draco wanted to object. Unfortunately for him, she had a good argument in that neither Harry nor Ron would be able to act enough like a woman to pull it off and Draco needed to be himself to get in. After a long debate, they agreed to Hermione's idea.

"We'll leave in the morning," Hermione said. It was already early afternoon and she wanted to make sure they didn't rush into Gringotts unprepared. Besides, she needed to convince Draco to teach her how to behave more like his aunt which was a little harder than she expected. By the time night fell, she felt confident enough she could pull it off and fell asleep trying not to dream about what could go wrong.


	24. Chapter 24

Draco was tense from the moment they apparated into Diagon Alley on. Despite the fact that Potter and Weasel were well covered by the invisibility cloak, he was still worried someone would discover them. Hermione was posing as Bellatrix surprisingly well and if Draco didn't remind his wolf it was her every ten seconds, he was worried he might try to attack her.

The goblins seemed suspicious, but when did they never? As they demanded her wand, Draco was glad he'd managed to steal it from Bellatrix the day before. Even with it, the goblins were silent as they worked. Sensing something was wrong, Draco stomped on Hermione's foot and muttered the _Imperius_ curse while she cursed him.

"Watch your feet, boy," she sneered, hitting him, but not hard.

Using the _Imperius_ curse, Draco sped up the process and soon enough they were being taken to the cart that would take them to Bellatrix's vault. It was a tight fit with Harry and Ron scrunched in the back, but the Imperiused goblin didn't notice. Beside him, Hermione grabbed his hand as the cart started to roll and they were descending deep into the tunnels of Gringotts.

Draco had long since gotten used to the twists and drops of the track and didn't get sick easily. Hermione looked a little nauseous, however, so he squeezed her hand a little tighter and hoped Potter and Weasel weren't going to vomit.

He saw the waterfall too late even though it was unavoidable. His hold on the _Imperius_ curse was broken as they were drenched in the water and the goblin turned around to face them. His eyes widened as Hermione returned to her normal self and the goblin tried to stop the cart. Before he could, Draco cast another _Imperius_ curse and forced the goblin to keep taking them down.

"You've been _Imperiusing_ him?" Hermione asked. Draco just gave her a look and she nodded.

The cart began to slow down before coming to an abrupt stop outside of a large vault. The goblin got out first and after Hermione told Potter and Weasel the goblin was under a spell, they pulled off the invisibility cloak and jumped out of the cart. The sounds of chains and deep grunts echoed down the cavern and they all shared a glance. Draco didn't need enhanced senses to know they were very close to the Gringotts dragon and losing control of the goblin would be a fatal mistake.

They watched nervously as the goblin opened the vault doors and stepped aside. At the sight of many familiar heirlooms, Draco's attention wavered and he felt the goblin become aware of his spell. He cursed and the Golden Trio looked at him worriedly.

"He knows he's spelled," Draco explained, struggling to keep ahold of the goblin. "Find your Horcrux but don't touch anything else. Bellatrix has it cursed so it multiplies if anyone but her touches it."

The group nodded and hurried deeper into the vault while Draco struggled with the goblin. If the creature broke out of his spell, he would likely be unable to cast it again with any strength.

"Get it!"

Draco turned his attention to inside the vault just in time to see Hermione lunge towards a goblet. Galleons started sprouting out around her and several versions of the goblet sprang around her as the galleon pile began to grow quickly.

In the time he was distracted, the goblin broke out of his spell and Draco was hit with an incredible headache.

"Intruders!" the goblin yelled. Before it could summon the dragon, Draco cast the spell again. It was weak and the goblin fought him the entire time, but it held.

Someone screamed behind him and his head pounded at the control it took not to lose focus on the goblin. The sound of galleons hitting the floor and the dragon grunting down the cavern made his head pound more and he began to feel a little woozy.

"Get Malfoy and let's go!"

Draco looked up at his name to see Hermione stuffing the goblet in her bag and rushing toward him. He slumped against her side and the goblin broke free of his curse for the last time. Without the strength to cast it again, he stumbled down the cavern after Potter and Weasel with Hermione at his side.

"Wait," he exclaimed as they rounded a corner. Potter and Weasel stopped so fast he and Hermione knocked into them. "Dragon," he said unhelpfully as they all stared up at the beast.

Behind them, the goblin was summoning Gringotts' defenses while the dragon roared in front of them.

"I have a crazy idea," Hermione breathed beside him. Draco, Potter, and Weasel all turned to face her. She gestured toward the dragon with a grimace on her face. "It's clearly abused and we've no other way out."

"You want us to ride the dragon?" Weasel yelled. The dragon roared in their direction and they all crouched to avoid its gaze. As a white eye faced them, they all seemed to realise it was blind at the same time.

"I'm with Ron," Potter said, staring at the dragon with wide eyes.

Alarms blared behind them and Draco picked up on the sound of more goblins and aurors heading their way.

"I'm afraid they've already summoned the aurors," Draco told them. They all looked at Hermione who shrugged.

"It can't be that difficult, right?" she asked.

They only hesitated a second longer before racing toward the dragon. Hermione helped Draco onto its back while Weasel and Potter clambered on behind them. Draco was vaguely aware of Hermione shouting a spell four times followed by the sound of chains falling to the ground. The dragon roared again and spun in a full circle to place the sound. Draco clutched the creature tightly as it swung violently.

"It still thinks it's trapped," Potter yelled over the noise.

Draco closed his eyes for a second, trying to think of a way to help. However, when his eyes opened, they were soaring through the caverns and Hermione was clutching him tightly. His head was pounding and his vision was blurry from the strain of casting the Imperius curse three times in a row.

Before Draco could ask how they'd moved so quickly, the dragon broke through the surface and he was momentarily blinded by the light outside. Below them, wizards screamed as the dragon roared. It lept off the roof of Gringotts and soared high into the sky while Draco struggled to hold on. After a few seconds, it flattened out and headed away from Diagon Alley.

"Now what?" Weasel yelled, glancing back at them. "It's too high for us to jump and we can't apparate from this high up."

"We'll have to wait until it lands," Hermione yelled back. Her arm tightened around Draco and he was only vaguely aware of his vision going black before he was rudely awakened by the splash of cold water.

Flailing wildly, he pushed his hair out of his face and looked around. The dragon was rising back up into the sky while Potter, Weasel, Hermione, and he were all floating in a lake. With a shared look, they all swam toward the shore and made quick work of setting up a camp and a fire.

"You got the goblet, right?" Potter asked Hermione. She nodded and patted her bag.

"I'll keep it safe until we can find a way to destroy it," she told him. They both looked up as Weasel broke through the tree line carrying not wood, but a large sword.

"You guys will never believe what I found," he said, holding out the sword with a grin.


	25. Chapter 25

Aside from breaking into Gringotts, Horcrux hunting was almost fun. Hermione could really go for a shower, but they were so close to the end now that she almost didn't care. With the Hufflepuff Horcrux destroyed, all that remained was Ravenclaw's diadem. If it really was that easy, then they needed to inform the Order it was almost time to fight. Of course, they'd been fighting this whole time, but they'd need a battle with the Dark Lord himself if they wanted a chance to kill Voldemort.

"We should all return to Hogwarts," Harry said as they sat around a fire. They'd taken a day or two to rest up after as Hermione's arm ached and she was still tired, but they needed to move quickly.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Hermione asked. They were well past the start of classes and if she and Draco returned now, they'd be arrested on sight for sure.

"Dumbledore said Rosmerta could help us," Harry said quietly. Hermione wanted to ask how he could be sure, but it was quite clear he didn't want to talk about it. Clearing his throat, Harry said, "Either way, getting into Hogsmeade will be dangerous. We should probably all go together instead of breaking apart."

"There are Death Eaters patrolling the village now," Draco told them, another new arrangement since the holiday. "And anti-apparation wards extending more than a kilometer each direction."

"We'll need to hide," Hermione said. Draco nodded. "I'm sure a disillusionment spell or Notice Me Not charm should do the trick."

"It should," Draco confirmed.

With them all in agreement, they changed the subject and talked until late into the night. Hermione didn't even realise she'd fallen asleep until she woke up in the middle of the night with Draco's arm around her and a dying fire. She sighed contentedly and curled closer to Draco before falling asleep again.

* * *

When they apparated outside of Hogsmeade, Hermione was bubbling with nervous energy. They had decided before apparating that Harry and Ron would go through Hogsmeade first and an hour later, Hermione and Draco would follow. It was difficult to wait the full hour before they could follow Harry and Ron, but Hermione and Draco managed to kill the time.

As soon as they had apparated to the spot outside of Hogsmeade, Draco grabbed Hermione's hand tightly and pulled her to his side. Hermione tucked herself snuggly under his arm as they began the long walk to Hogsmeade.

"He's planning something," Draco muttered. He clenched his fist and Hermione knew his mark was burning. "It burns more often."

"How often?" she asked. Draco shrugged and fisted his hand tightly until the burning disappeared.

"One or two times every day?" he guessed. Hermione sucked in a breath and his arm around her tightened. That was certainly more often than usual, but there was no way to find out what Voldemort was planning since Draco had stopped responding to the call after joining her, Harry, and Ron.

The rest of the walk was in relative silence. The closer they got to Hogsmeade, the tenser Draco was beside her. She knew he could hear and smell things further ahead that she could not and knew that would provide them with an advantage. While Harry and Ron had to rely on each other to sense any abnormalities, she could trust Draco to sense them before they were much of a threat.

As soon as they entered the village, Hermione couldn't relax. She'd thought walking there would be the most unnerving, but she was wrong. The streets were almost entirely empty aside from a homeless wizard here or there and a couple of Death Eaters. She could almost feel stares following them as they walked toward the Hog's Head. When Draco pulled open the door, she couldn't help but dart inside away from the discomfort of the street and into the safety of the Hog's Head.

Rosmerta was waiting for them on the stairway. She smiled tightly at them both then led them up the stairs to an empty room. Once the door had shut behind them, Ron and Harry tugged off the invisibility cloak and grinned at her. She jumped, but smiled back at the sight of them.

"Any trouble?" Harry asked. Both she and Draco shook their heads. "Same here."

"Are you sure this is safe?" Draco asked, glancing around the room. Rosmerta narrowed her eyes at him and nodded once.

"You'll be able to take the portrait all the way to the school," Rosmerta instructed. She nodded at a portrait behind Harry and a little girl smiled at them. "Ariana will take you there."

They all turned to look at the painting then at each other. As soon as they stepped out of the portrait and into the castle, they were trapped until the Order came and Voldemort set up his attack. They'd need a safe place to hide and only the Room of Requirement could ensure they'd be safe, but without knowing where they would be let out, it was impossible to know if now was the right time to go.

"Where will it let us out?" Draco asked, his hand drifting forward to grab hold of Hermione's.

"Wherever it's safest," Rosmerta answered. Draco narrowed his eyes at her but Hermione was tugging him away before he could argue.

"Draco and I should go first," Hermione told Ron and Harry. "If someone sees us, it won't be as suspicious as encountering either of you. If it's not safe, we'll let you know."

"I'll go through first," Draco told her. Hermione nodded and took a step away from the portrait so Draco could go through first.

The room fell silent as they all watched Draco climb into the portrait and glance around the frame. Hermione followed soon after and looked around in awe as she viewed Rosmerta's office from an entirely new perspective.

"Can we send you back if it's safe or not?" Hermione asked Ariana. She nodded and without sparing Rosmerta, Harry, or Ron a glance, she led Draco and Hermione down a bright corridor and away from the small office frame.

The corridor was long and while it was not dark, it was not brightly coloured either. Hermione almost expected to get lost and wondered how the paintings at Hogwarts didn't get lost when moving between frames. Before she could ask Ariana though, the corridor changed and resembled the halls of Hogwarts.

"We've reached Hogwarts," Ariana said briefly. She didn't look back at them.

The corridor changed from black and white to colour abruptly before returning to black and white, confusing Hermione slightly.

"We're not in a frame," Ariana explained, almost as if she could hear Hermione's thoughts. "When we pass a frame, the corridors become colourful."

"Avoid the frames," Draco grumbled, holding Hermione's hand tightly as the corridor became colourful for just a moment.

As they turned a corner, the entire corridor went blank and it felt like they were walking down a dark tunnel. Hermione didn't recognise anything around her and slowed her pace. Draco glanced down at her then back at Ariana who didn't seem to notice they were no longer as enthusiastic about following her.

"Here," she announced, stopping suddenly. Far down the corridor, Hermione could make out a colourful point of light and wondered what was ahead. "The rest of your friends await you here. I will return to bring the others."

"Thank you," Hermione said as Ariana turned and disappeared.

Warily, she and Draco walked towards the pinpoint of light. They were almost to the end of the portrait when Hermione recognised the Room of Requirement in front of her. She gasped, grabbing hold of Draco's arm and pulling him forward quickly. He followed her until they were within sight of the frame before stopping abruptly.

"I go first," he told her, his eyes turning silver for the briefest moment. Hermione nodded and let him lead the way out of the portrait.

He pushed open the portrait and they both stepped out into the Room of Requirement. A sea of students stood in front of them, whispering amongst themselves as they stared at Draco and then Hermione.

"Hermione?"

Both of them turned quickly to see Neville approaching from the right. His eyes were wide and when he realised it was her, he sighed in relief. The students around them looked wary and some had very obviously moved away from Draco, but no one pointed their wands.

"Neville! What's going on?" she asked, stepping towards him and away from Draco. "Why is everyone in the Room of Requirement?"

"You disappeared over holiday and we got worried," Neville told her. That didn't answer the question as to why almost the entire student body was in the Room of Requirement though, so Hermione asked again. "The Carrows seemed angrier after break. It got really bad, Hermione. Ginny, Luna, and I just gathered everyone in here to hide until something could be done. Are you here to get us out?"

Hermione shook her head but before she could say or ask anything else, the portrait door behind her opened. Draco pulled Hermione to his chest, but it was just Harry and Ron who clambered out. However, at the sight of the two boys, the students erupted into a frenzy of yells and it took several silencing spells to quiet them all. When they finally stopped shouting, Harry shifted awkwardly and glanced at Hermione. She just shrugged and motioned for him to say something.

"Uh, hello," he said awkwardly. The silencing spells stuck and not a word was heard even though Hermione watched many of the students try to say something. "I'm sure you've all been wondering where I've been, but I can't really tell you. Dumbledore sent me on a mission before he died. Something that could help kill You Know Who."

More students seemed to try to speak, but Hermione knew what they were all trying to ask. Apparently Harry did as well.

"He can't be killed yet," he answered. The diadem was somewhere in the castle and they still had to kill Nagini, Hermione was sure, but he didn't tell the students that. "We're almost done though. Any day now and this should all be over."

The students just looked at him and he turned to look at Hermione uncomfortably, clearly unsure what else to say.

"If you promise to raise your hands before talking, we'll lift the silencing spell," she said, certain they had questions that should be answered.

As the sea of students nodded hastily, Hermione removed the spells and a dozen hands popped up. She pointed at the student closest to her first.

"What's Draco Malfoy doing here?" the kid demanded, glaring at Draco. "He's a Death Eater! Like the Carrows!"

Several students shouted out in agreement but when Hermione raised her wand at them, they quieted.

"Malfoy helped me on my quest," Harry answered, glancing at Hermione and Draco as he spoke. "He's not a Death Eater. He's been forced by You Know Who and is in trouble just like the rest of us."

Harry pointed to another student. Before the girl had even put her hand down, she was speaking.

"How long do we have to stay here? When are you going to kill You Know Who?" she asked. Harry opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a shrill voice sounded over the castle grounds and they all froze.

"Send over Harry Potter," Voldemort's voice demanded. Hermione clutched Draco's hand and he pulled her tight against his chest. "You have one hour to send over Harry Potter."

The warning repeated again, but Hermione was already springing into action. She sent Harry and Ron to find McGonagall and while the students threw a thousand questions at him as he moved, Harry left the room without speaking a word. Next, Hermione instructed Neville and Luna to get all of the younger students out through the portrait.

"It leads to Rosmerta's and I'm sure she'll be okay with it if you explain what's going on," Hermione said. Neville nodded and immediately began sending the students through the portrait.

The Room of Requirement turned into a crazy mass exodus, but Hermione kept her hand firmly in Draco's and hurried outside. As soon as they were in the corridor, Hermione couldn't think straight.

"We need to find the diadem," she murmured. McGonagall could certainly handle Harry, but without destroying the diadem, the inevitable battle would be pointless. "I can't even think where it could be. Ravenclaw Tower? Someone should have seen it. Perhaps it's in—"

"Granger!" Draco snapped, yanking on her hand and pulling her back to his chest. She snapped out of her rambling and looked around the corridor, afraid someone had snuck up on them. "You need to breathe."

"I need the diadem!" she exclaimed, stepping back from him. Draco didn't let her go, though. "It hasn't been seen in centuries, it's likely lost and there's no—"

She stopped abruptly. The Hogwarts castle was ancient and had served as a school for centuries. Students lost things all the time and with magic involved, one could never be too careful. Now that she thought about it, she was certain she'd read somewhere that Hogwarts kept a room that held everything that had ever been lost in the castle since its creation.

"A room of lost things," she gasped, turning to look at Draco with wide eyes. "Hogwarts has a room where all the lost things go. If we could find it, we could find the diadem and then we could destroy it!"

Draco looked unenthused by her newfound knowledge and looked down at her uncertainly.

"A room of lost thing?" he asked. Hermione nodded quickly. "Where would you even find that? We've gone to school here for seven years, Hermione. We'd know where such a room was."

Hermione deflated a little as she realised he was right. The only room that would even sort of fit the description as a room of lost things was the Room of Requirement. As far as she knew, no other room in the castle was charmed like it and they really didn't have time to pace seven times up and down each floor.

As she stared back at the Room of Requirement, she got the strangest feeling that it may actually be the room for lost things. It could explain how the room was able to provide anything they needed and seeing as it could change form, it could easily become a room to hold lost things.

"Draco," she said slowly, still staring at the door. "I think we may have already found it.


	26. Chapter 26

Draco hated every second of this. From the moment Hermione had suggested they trick the Room of Requirement into becoming the room of lost things, he'd known that something was bound to go wrong. He'd thought for sure the Carrows or someone else would come storming around the corner before they could even attempt it, but fifteen minutes later, the Room of Requirement was empty and Hermione tried to turn it into her supposed room of lost things.

"You can't be sure the diadem is even in there," Draco muttered, watching her pace in front of the room seven times. As the door appeared in front of them, Hermione turned and scowled at him.

"Until you have a better idea, this is what we're doing," she said. Without hesitating, she yanked open the door and stepped into the room.

Draco stood at her back as they stepped through the door and into a room so large Draco wondered if it ever ended. His wolf wanted to take her away from there immediately and he almost did, except Hermione was looking around in awe and he didn't want to be the one to pull her away from something she found so fascinating. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel antsy as the door shut behind them and he wondered just what hid in between the tall shelves and down the endless corridor.

"We shouldn't be here, Hermione," he grumbled, grabbing her hand tightly when she stepped forward. She glanced back at him shortly then back down the aisle of shelves.

"This is it, Draco," she told him, tugging on his hand. "This has to be where the diadem is hidden. The Room of Requirement wouldn't turn into this if it wasn't."

"How do you propose we find the diadem then?" he asked, trying not to snarl. His wolf hated to be there even though he still had one hand against the door and knew they could easily leave.

With a shrug, Hermione attempted to summon the diadem. Draco was unsurprised when nothing happened, but Hermione's shoulders deflated and he knew she'd been hoping that would work. If they couldn't summon it, it would take years to explore the room. They'd never find the diadem by the time they needed it and Voldemort would win.

"We won't find it like this, Hermione," Draco told her. He released the door so he could wrap both of his arms around Hermione. He turned her in his arms and looked down at her. "The diadem could be anywhere."

"We need to at least look," she replied, pulling away from him and starting down the long row of shelves.

Draco surged forward after her. He looked around the room warily, waiting for something to jinx or hex them, while Hermione scanned every shelf they passed. The ceiling was high and the shelves seemed to extend all the way to the top. Draco knew it was futile to look for the diadem with the shelves stacked so tall and the room endlessly long. Every little sound set him on edge and when one of the shelves behind them creaked, he'd had enough.

"We need to go, Hermione," he said, grabbing her arm. She tried to pull away, but Draco refused to let go of her. "The room has no end and Potter's going to face the Dark Lord any minute. Who knows how time passes in here."

"Just a few more minutes!" she begged, looking up at him desperately. "If we don't destroy it, there's no chance Harry can defeat You Know Who and where will we be then?"

Draco knew exactly where they'd be if Potter couldn't defeat the Dark Lord. Even if he hadn't been made such an obvious move to defect and help Potter, now that he was a werewolf, he'd still be on the lower end of Voldemort's new social order. His wolf snarled at the thought of what the Death Eaters would do with Hermione and he pulled her tight against his chest.

"Is there a spell we can cast to destroy it?" Draco asked her, looking down the corridor behind her. He could have sworn he heard something shift and he could feel his wolf straining toward the exit.

Hermione shook her head.

"Unless there's a curse that's been able to destroy magical objects in the past, I can't think of anything," she said. Draco frowned and further down the room, he heard something topple to the ground.

Tensing, Draco pulled Hermione closer and glanced toward the door. When had they walked so far away from it? It looked like a small hatch from where they stood now.

"We should go," he repeated quietly. He refrained from picking Hermione up and running toward the door even though his wolf urged him to.

Keeping a firm hold of her, they started back toward the door. They hadn't even passed one shelf when Draco picked up a familiar scent and stopped in his tracks. Hermione collided with his back and whined, asking him what was wrong before he could quiet her.

"There's someone else in here," he growled. He turned around and pulled her to his chest, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and using the other to hold out his wand. Hermione grabbed hold of his robes and wisely said nothing.

Something heavy shifted behind him and as Draco spun around to face the sound, he released Hermione. His eyes met Montague's and even as the _cruciatus_ curse hit him in the chest, Draco sent _sectumsempra_ at him. Montague dropped to one knee, yelling out in pain as his chest split open and blood soaked his robes. Draco grit his teeth as the _cruciatus_ curse that hit him rippled through his body and disappeared. One of the perks of being a werewolf, he supposed.

He stalked toward Montague, kicking him onto his back and relishing in the scent of his blood. Montague coughed and gurgled, screaming some more as the gash in his chest spread further.

"I told you I'd kill you," Draco snarled. Montague tried to speak, but his words were unintelligible. Draco lifted his heel to bring down onto Montague's face, but a loud shout behind him caught his attention before he could.

He turned just in time to see a green jet of light hit the shelf above Hermione's head and Adrian Pucey fly backward at her hex. Hermione sent another spell at Pucey that had him curling in on himself, but that didn't stop Pucey from firing two rapid curses at her. Hermione dodged the first one, but her hastily cast shield splintered at the impact. The second one sailed toward her shoulder and Draco cast a shield at the last second that deflected it. Hermione's wide eyes met his but a second later, she was back to duelling Pucey just as angrily as before.

Draco joined in, sending every dark spell he could think of and wishing Pucey wasn't such a skilled duelist. As Pucey's back hit a shelf and Montague gurgled for the last time, Pucey's eyes darkened and he aimed his wand at Hermione. Draco roared as Fiendfyre left Pucey's wand and barreled toward Hermione. He blasted her off her feet and she hit the far shelf with a sickening thunk. Around them, green flames devoured the carpet and Pucey slipped away.

Panicking, Draco lifted Hermione into his arms and raced for the door. The Fiendfyre rose quickly and roared behind them as Draco ran. He could feel the room heating up behind him and even with his enhanced speed, he barely made it to the door before the Fiendfyre caught his robes.

With Hermione still in his arms, Draco pulled the door closed and raised his wand to cast every sealing spell, charm, and curse he could think of. While it was easy to believe the Room of Requirement would be able to keep the Feindfyre in, Draco didn't want to risk it. Pucey and Montague were both still in the room and Draco couldn't help but snarl happily at the thought of them burning. As far as he was concerned, they deserved their deaths and it was a much more merciful way to go than what he would have done to them had they made it out unharmed.

Hermione shifted in his arms and Draco's gaze darted down to make sure she was alright. The Fiendfyre hadn't touched them, but Hermione had hit the shelf pretty hard when he hexed her out of the way. Worried she was injured and he hadn't noticed at first, he looked over her quickly and ran his hands over her arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked, panicking as she brought a hand up to her head. Her fingers came away sticky with blood and Draco's wolf took over before he could stop it.

He couldn't even remember learning the spells, but somehow he managed to cast a diagnostic spell to determine just how hard she'd hit her head. A quick healing spell took care of the open wound on the back of her head and another, more advanced spell healed part of her concussion.

Hermione let him fuss over her. Her head hurt too much to really fight against him and he seemed to know what he was doing as he healed her head. As soon as her head stopped pounding and she felt like she could move without getting nauseous though, she grabbed Draco's flittering hands and stopped his fretting.

"I'm okay, Draco," she assured him, capturing one of his hands in both of hers.

His eyes were silver and they kept darting behind her to the door where the Fiendfyre still burned, but he didn't pull away from her. She hadn't expected him to anyway. She let go of his hands so she could gently cup his face and as soon as she did, his arms locked around her waist. His eyes stayed silver as he looked down at her.

"We have to go meet Harry," she told him gently, brushing his cheek with her thumb. "I'm certain the Fiendfyre took care of the diadem, but we have to be ready to fight. We can't do that if we don't know what he and McGonagall are planning."

"You won't fight," Draco told her, silver eyes narrowing. Hermione frowned.

"I will too," she argued. He opened his mouth to argue, but she covered it before he could. "If you think anything you say will convince me otherwise, Draco Malfoy, then you don't know me at all."

Draco glared at her for several long seconds before turning his head away from her. Her hand fell from his mouth as he looked at her once more, his eyes flickering between silver and grey.

"This is War, Hermione," he reminded her. "You could get hurt."

"I'm not worried," she said. His eyes narrowed further and Hermione glared in return. "You can either walk with me to find Harry and McGonagall or I'll leave you here and go myself, but we still have Nagini to kill and I can't do it on my own."

Draco stared at her long and hard. His eyes continued to flicker and Hermione almost held her breath as she waited for him to settle on a decision. Slowly, his eyes faded back to their normal grey. Even though he was still frowning and his entire body was tense, he nodded.

"If any one of them hurt you, I'll kill them all," he told her. Hermione just smiled before pulling his face down to hers and kissing him firmly. After all, she hadn't really expected anything else.


	27. Chapter 27

Finding Harry and McGonagall was not as difficult as Hermione had first feared. She'd thought to check Gryffindor Tower first before Draco suggested the Great Hall. Seeing them both standing at the far end of the hall with several students gathered had been both surprising and expected if she were honest.

The crowd of students surrounding them was thick, but with Draco at her back, the students parted easily and let them through quickly. As soon as Hermione had sidled in beside Harry, the crowd clustered in once more and she ignored the way Draco scowled at them all.

"Have you got a plan yet?" she asked, looking from Professor McGonagall to Harry and back.

"Sort of," Harry replied. He looked warily at her and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "We've only fifteen minutes before the Death Eaters start attacking but if the last Horcruxes aren't destroyed, it's useless trying to fight."

"We think we've destroyed the diadem," Hermione told him, briefly explaining that Pucey had set Fiendfyre in the one location Hermione was certain it would be. "Fiendfyre has been known to destroy magical items in the past, so I think we can assume it's been taken care of. The only Horcrux left is the snake."

"That we know of," Ron offered.

"Yes, thank you, Ronald," Hermione said, not too pleased with the thought that there could be more Horcruxes they didn't know about. "We really could use that."

"Mr. Potter has offered to go to He Who Must Not Be Named," McGonagall said, startling Hermione so much she jumped when she turned to look at her. Beside the professor, Harry was pointedly avoiding her gaze.

"Harry!" she gasped. She reached for his hand and Harry sheepishly looked up at her. "He'll kill you for sure," she told him.

"If I can get close to him, I can kill Nagini," he replied, squeezing her hand gently. "He's likely to be careless if I just walk up. You can kill him once the snake is dead."

Hermione shook her head and held onto his hand tighter. Her eyes watered a bit at the thought of Harry walking to his death but she tried not to think about it.

"We'll find another way to kill Nagini," she told him, already trying to think of other possibilities. "Perhaps when he attacks, he'll come down and then we can hunt down the snake while the others—"

"No, Hermione," Harry said softly, interrupting her train of thought. "He won't let Nagini anywhere near the battle. He knows we've been hunting the Horcruxes; this is our only chance."

Around them, the Great Hall was silent. Ron was staring blankly at Harry while Hermione tried very hard not to start crying. If she did, she was sure she wouldn't stop and if they really were about to fight Voldemort's army, she knew she couldn't let her emotions distract her. Anything could be a distraction and in battle, distractions meant death.

"You promise you'll come back alive?" she whispered. Harry nodded once before letting go of her hand and glancing at Ron.

"I'll see you after," he said. Ron nodded but pulled Harry in for a hug before he could try and slip away. Hermione threw herself at him next, locking her arms around his shoulders and pretending that she wasn't possibly saying goodbye to her best friend.

"Do be careful, Harry," she murmured. Harry hugged her back just as tightly before slipping away from her and walking with McGonagall out of the Great Hall.

Everyone in the room watched them go. Even when the doors shut behind them, no one moved for several seconds.

"We should get ready for an attack," Draco told her. His hand wrapped around her wrist and slowly, she turned away from the doors of the Great Hall to look at him. "No matter what happens when Potter goes, the Dark Lord's army will attack the school and we need to be prepared."

Hermione didn't even want to think about fighting in a battle at the moment, but she knew she needed to be prepared for it. However, she couldn't think of what to do next for the life of her. Even with everyone in the room looking towards them for a command, her mind remained blank as she tried very hard not to imagine Harry's body lying on the ground in front of Voldemort.

"What do we do?" Ron asked, his voice echoing through the eerily silent Hall.

It took Hermione a second or two to realise he wasn't talking to her. Instead, he was looking directly at Draco, awaiting the first command just like he would had he asked Harry. A small smile crept onto Hermione's face as she realised the rest of the students seemed just as eager to hear what Draco suggested. As he glanced down at her and squeezed her hand gently, she wondered if he was as surprised as she was.

Rather than ask if they were prepared to follow his orders, Draco nodded once at Ron then glanced over the student body and asked, "Who has experience dueling?"

After that, everything blurred together as Hermione quickly began dividing students up based on what she'd seen in the DA. Time seemed to both speed up and slow down as Hermione ensured everyone was prepared in just a few minutes. By the time she had a moment to breathe, she realised Harry hadn't returned yet. Before she could think about what that could mean, Draco was at her side faster than she could blink.

He grabbed hold of her hand and immediately pulled her to his side, looking warily over the heads of the students waiting. He was tense and Hermione would have asked him what was wrong, but something hit the roof of the Great Hall and echoed so loudly she lost all train of thought.

As if he'd known it was coming, Draco pulled her to his side and curled over her. Dust rained down around them and if Hermione could move, she probably would have opened her mouth to scream. The castle continued to shake and the roof began to cave in as all around them, students ran for cover. Hermione attempted to pull away from Draco, but his arms were locked around her and his eyes were silver.

"Draco, we have to move," she said, twisting so she could look up at him. She cupped his face and flinched as something crashed behind her. "If we don't move, we're going to get killed."

"They're waiting out there," he growled, his grip on her tightening.

"I know, but we can't stay here," she told him. Draco frowned and looked around the room. A second later, he had her by the arm and was racing across the Great Hall. 

Hermione struggled to keep up with him, ducking as debris fell from the ceiling and attempting to cast shield charms over them.

Even once they left the Great Hall, they weren't safe. All around them, the walls were shaking and Hermione could feel the magic in them struggling. She yanked on Draco's hand and pulled him to stand under a door frame just as the ceiling in front of them caved in. They both coughed at the dust and Draco pulled Hermione under his arm in an attempt to pull her further away from the danger around them.

Just as abruptly as it began, the shaking ended. Neither of them moved from the door frame, waiting for another attack and remaining tense when none came.

"The Dark Lord is coming closer," Draco muttered, pulling her even closer. Hermione didn't care that she could hardly move. She clutched his robes tightly and tried to breathe normally as she felt panic welling up inside of her. "This was just to unsettle us. They haven't started their attack yet."

"Can you tell if he has Nagini?" Hermione asked desperately. "Is the snake alive?"

Draco went silent for several long seconds and Hermione held her breath.

"I can't tell," he said softly, looking down at her. Hermione tried not to look disappointed at the answer, but Draco seemed to see it anyway. "We need to kill it before Potter can kill the Dark Lord though, right?"

Hermione nodded. Something down the hall crashed to the ground and she jumped, clutching onto Draco's robes as his arm around her tightened.

"We should find it," Draco told her, peering down the hall. Hermione's eyes widened, surprised he'd even suggest it. She'd been prepared to argue her way into hunting down the Horcrux, but Draco had offered the idea himself. "It's just going to get worse the longer he lives. I'd rather see him die before you have the chance to get yourself killed," he said, scowling slightly at her. "Promise you won't do something stupid if I let you hunt the fucking thing?"

"I promise," Hermione swore immediately.

Draco slowly let her go and when she was eventually free, she slipped out from under his arm and pulled him down the hall. She hurried outside to the courtyard with her wand up as she looked around for Death Eaters. There were none in sight despite the earlier attack on the castle, but she didn't put her guard down. She stepped around the corner and looked up toward the Quidditch Pitch, stopping abruptly at the sight before her. Draco's chest hit her back and his arm wrapped around her as they both looked up the hill to see a swarm of Death Eaters staring back at them and Harry's body hovering in front of Voldemort himself.


	28. Chapter 28

Logically, Hermione knew she was not the only one standing there in front of Voldemort and his army of Death Eaters, but at the moment, it definitely felt like it. Her vision seemed to narrow down until the only thing she could see was Voldemort glaring down the hill at her with Harry's limp body floating a meter off the ground.

Hermione stumbled back into something hard. Something was holding her but all she could see was Harry's body and Voldemort's glare. She pushed away from whatever she had run into, twisting out of its grip. Her feet dragged on the ground even though she wanted to run and she fell as a stick got caught between her steps. As she hit the ground, she felt her eyes water and suddenly she couldn't breathe and Voldemort was cackling above them.

Her view of Harry and Voldemort was obscured as someone crouched down in front of her. With the tears in her eyes blurring her vision and the growing panic in her chest, she couldn't make out the person's face. She could hear him calling her name, but with Death Eaters behind him and Harry's limp body flashing across her mind's eye, she couldn't focus on him.

Something beneath her shifted and a second later, she was lifted up and pulled against the person's warm body. She shook slightly as she cried and her lungs felt like they were shrinking in on themselves. The area around her changed as she was carried into the courtyard and just for a second, she caught a glimpse of the DA flyer on the nearby pillar. She was set on the ground and the familiar figure crouched in front of her again, but her mind went blank as she stared at the poster she had made so long ago.

"—at just me—"

Somehow, the words the person spoke were clear for a second. It was just enough for Hermione to recognise the voice and her attention snapped forward to look at Draco. His face was still blurry, but she knew without a doubt it was him. She wiped at her tears and his face became clear for a second before more tears filled her eyes.

"Harry—" she gasped. Her chest felt tight and she reached for Draco's robes desperately, hoping that somehow just holding onto him would keep her from dissolving into an even worse mess.

"I know," he said softly. He reached up to cup her face and ran one of his hands over her hair soothingly. "I know, Hermione, but you have to breathe."

"I can't," she said, choking as another cry escaped her. Draco's hands on her kept her grounded, though, and as she stared at him, her breathing slowly went back to normal. She wiped her eyes and sniffled, but didn't dare look away from him as she could feel her body just waiting for something to set it off into a panic again.

"Are you feeling better?" Draco asked softly, pulling her to his chest and wrapping his arms around her. Even with her locked tightly in his arms, she felt like she could breathe again so she nodded.

"Is Harry really—" she broke off, not wanting to say the word. Draco would know what she meant though.

"It certainly looks like it," he told her. Hermione frowned and twisted slightly so she could look up at him. She looked at him strangely but he shook his head. "I don't know, Hermione. But I do know the Dark Lord is very angry and Nagini was nowhere near."

With a jolt of realisation, Hermione remembered their mission to kill Voldemort's last Horcrux.

"He did it then? He killed Nagini?" Hermione said. Draco nodded and while the thought that they could finally kill Voldemort should have been good news, Hermione couldn't help but feel upset that her best friend had needed to die in order for them to win.

"The Death Eaters are prepared to fight, Hermione," Draco reminded her. He moved out from under her so he was now facing her. "Even if the Dark Lord can be killed, it won't be easy."

Hermione knew that, of course, but she couldn't help but think he'd made a mistake by killing Harry and showing everyone his body. If there was ever a time Hermione felt like she could kill someone without guilt, it was now. The minute Ginny or any of the other Weasleys saw him too, she knew she wouldn't be the only one. However, the Death Eaters were a force to recon with alone. With werewolves and other dark creatures just waiting to taste their blood, Hermione knew Draco was correct in saying the fight would not be easy.

"The Order should be here by now," she told him. Draco didn't look like he cared. "They'll be reckless and charge head first—I know they will. We need to stop them before they see Harry or Voldemort's army will slaughter us."

Draco grimaced at the mention of Voldemort and Hermione frowned.

"His name is still taboo, Granger," he said, glancing behind him to see if anyone had appeared. "You shouldn't be saying it lightly. You'll paint an even bigger target over your head."

"I am not my biggest concern right now," Hermione said, glaring at him. If they wanted to have even a small chance at defeating what was sure to be a very vicious and organised army, they needed to start figuring out an attack plan. Having Draco tell her what to say or not say would not help.

"Well it's mine!" Draco snapped back. They glared at each other for several seconds but were broken apart by the sound of a scream.

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped, eyes widening as she jumped to her feet.

Without another word, she raced through the courtyard to where she heard the scream. She turned the corner to see most of the students had fled from the Great Hall and were now staring up at Voldemort's army. Ginny was easy to spot amongst the ground as Ron had grabbed her before she could rush toward Harry. No one said a word.

Hermione hurried over to where Ron, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall were. Most of the Order stood nearby, but some were nowhere in sight. There were still some students coming out of the castle, but Hermione hoped the rest of the Order was not among them.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, still holding onto Ginny but clearly glad to see she was okay. "Harry—"

"He killed the snake," Hermione interrupted, refusing to hear someone say he'd died. As long as the words were never uttered, she could pretend he was okay for the moment. "He's killed Nagini, but it won't be easy to kill Vol—" Draco grabbed her elbow tightly and she rolled her eyes as she corrected herself. "—You Know Who. We can't just rush forward. We should wait for them to make the first move."

"They made the first move when they murdered Harry!" Ron argued. Ginny and Hermione both glared at him. "They made the first kill and we should retaliate."

"Be sensible, Ronald," Hermione hissed. She gestured vaguely to the army on the hill and the dark creatures hovering on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "We can't risk defeat. If we're to kill You Know Who, then we have to have a plan."

"My plan is to kill him," Ron replied. Hermione scowled at him but McGonagall spoke up before she could tell him just how useless his plan was.

"Miss Granger is right, though we don't have much time," she said. Ron glared at her but both McGonagall and Hermione ignored him. "The Order is here and already getting into battle position. I'm afraid we don't have much time to assist other students, but I know you've trained them well."

The glint in her eye as she looked at Hermione and Ron told them she knew about the DA, but she didn't say anything.

"They haven't quite broken through the protective barrier, so we have a little more time," McGonagall told them, glancing up the hill.

As if they'd heard her words, the whole group of Death Eaters raised their wands and the ground around the castle started to shake once more. The force of so much magic had to be wearing through the barrier quickly and when Hermione looked up, she could see spots of it had already broken down. Thinking quickly, she turned to face Draco and looked up at him worriedly.

"What's the quickest way to get through the Death Eaters?" she asked. There had to be a weakness. No army was without one and seeing as Draco had fought alongside them before, he would know better than anyone else.

"It's not quick," he said, eyeing her warily, "But they're proud. If you can take advantage of that, it's the best shot at getting through them."

"And Vold—You Know Who? How do we get to him?" Hermione asked.

"He'll be surrounded by Death Eaters but even then, he's a powerful wizard on his own," Draco warned her, giving her a look she knew meant he wouldn't be letting her try and sneak up on the Dark Lord alone. "You'll have to attack from a distance and you have to be fast. You can't do it alone."

Hermione turned back to McGonagall and Ron, smiling softly at Ginny who wiped her face discreetly.

"A few of us should take on You Know Who while the others hold off the Death Eaters," she said. Ron nodded and Ginny frowned, glancing up the hill where Hermione knew Harry's body was still floating.

"I can head the attack down here," McGonagall said, glancing over the students. "Merlin knows the Order won't listen to anyone else."

Hermione grimaced though she knew it was true. If she or Ron or any other student attempted to give orders or advice, it was almost sure to be brushed aside. The Order meant well, but they had learned early on that the older wizards preferred to have charge.

"Will the others—"

"Don't worry about them, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall interrupted. "I know you trained them well and seeing their friend like that on the hill will give them something to fight for."

Hermione swallowed and nodded. She glanced at Ron and Ginny, silently wondering if they preferred to stay below or try to attack Voldemort.

"If you think you're leaving us here, Hermione, then you've gone bloody bonkers," Ron said, holding his wand tightly. Around them, the earth shook and a loud crack sounded as most of the barrier caved in. Hermione flinched at the loud sound and Draco's hand grabbed hers.

"It won't be like hunting Horcruxes," Draco told them. The way his hold on Hermione's hand tightened told him he was thinking about the previous attacks he'd joined while still a part of the Death Eaters. "They'll kill you. You have to be ready to kill them too."

Ron and Ginny scowled at them both, but only Ginny spoke up.

"They killed Harry," she reminded them, smearing dirt across her cheek as she brushed a tear away. "I'd kill them even if they weren't trying to kill me too."


End file.
